Obama's Facebook Playbook

If the Barack Obama campaign's web presence reminds you of Facebook, there's a reason...

If the Barack Obama campaign's web presence reminds you of Facebook, there's a reason.

The man behind my.barackobama.com is Chris Hughes ’06, one of Facebook's founders.

As a New York Times article on Hughes explains, he was a roommate of Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, who left Harvard to work on the site full time. Hughes worked for the company after graduation, but departed in February 2007 to become Obama's "online organizing guru" (his official title, according to the Times).

The campaign has won plaudits for its innovative use of the Internet, including using the Web to track and organize volunteers, build automated polling-place locator software to inform voters where they should cast their ballots, and launch fightthesmears.com, a site dedicated to debunking myths and rumors about Obama.

Read the rest of the Times article here.

Most popular

Harvard Augments Financial Aid—and Girds for Austerity

Dean Hopi Hoekstra details Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ priorities.

Harvard Weathers a Year of Turmoil

The federal government has launched unprecedented actions against the University. Here’s a guide.

Min Jin Lee on Her New Novel and Writing about the Korean Diaspora

“I worry a great deal about how Koreans are perceived,” the author says.

Explore More From Current Issue

Modern building with large glass windows, surrounded by greenery and pedestrians.

A roundup of University news from the summer of 2026

A woman with long, wavy hair wearing a white suit, seated in a bright, modern room.

The Harvard graduate’s roundtable talk show touches on hot button issues from religion to sex. 

Three actors perform on stage, with one actor interacting closely with another, set against abstract backgrounds.

The play Spare Parts is a contemporary fable about the quest to live forever.