Twitter: Obama Admits He's Never Tweeted, Fingers 'Too Clumsy'

At a town hall event during Obama's trip to China, the web-savvy President admitted to a group of Chinese youth in Shanghai that he's never used Twitter.

In response to the question, "Should we be able to use Twitter freely?" Obama told people gathered at the Town Hall meeting,

Well, first of all, let me say that I have never used Twitter. My thumbs are too clumsy to type in things on the phone.

Obama's Twitter account -- one of the most popular with over 2.6 million followers -- lists 418 Tweets.

Although it comes as no surprise that most of the time, it isn't the President himself Tweeting, it is puzzling that such politician who so effectively used the web has never, ever used the application himself.

It also casts new light on Tweets such as this one, posted following the announcement that Obama had won the Nobel Peace Prize:

In addition to confessing his Twitter 'naivete', Obama also stressed the importance of freedom of speech:

I should be honest, as president of the United States, there are times where I wish information didn't flow so freely because then I wouldn't have to listen to people criticizing me all the time. But because in the United States, information is free, and I have a lot of critics in the United States who can say all kinds of things about me, I actually think that that makes our democracy stronger and it makes me a better leader because it forces me to hear opinions that I don't want to hear.

What do you think? Forgivable or a major PR snafu? Will you keep following Obama's Tweets or does it make you less interested?

Comments

[Pleneras]

07:17 AM on 11/18/2009

Truth is can't say much on twit and it's for people who write in one sentence. Kind of retarded and a waste of thought if you ask me and millions of others who don't understand all the fan fare. I'm not into compressed expression. Leave that for the kids. Since Iran's twits suddenly people think it's the way to go. It doesn't change the fact that twit forces you to communicate less and less.

[jtbreeze94]

02:24 PM on 11/17/2009

He wouldn't be able to anyway that would risk his security.

[goodnews7]

08:08 AM on 11/17/2009

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[coastalcarla]

05:51 PM on 11/16/2009

Considering the only people I know that have become Twitterpated are teenage girls and the Republicans that I'm related to and acquainted with, I don't exactly take Twitter very seriously.

There are better ways to communicate than typing stuff into your phone. You might try turning it on and actually talking to other human beings once in awhile. A novel idea.

[Mulvaney]

03:29 PM on 11/16/2009

Another thing that I have in common with Obama, but if John Q. Adams can twitter I suppose Obama could.

[Inquisitr]

03:06 PM on 11/16/2009

Good, twitter is not a good tool, it never has been a good tool. there are a million ways to communicate online better.

[bpress]

02:41 PM on 11/16/2009

I, like Obama and many others, have a Tweeter account and do not use it on a usual basis. Blasting out public announcements of my every move doesn't seem very exciting, either for me or anyone else.

[satanlite]

01:47 PM on 11/16/2009

Yet another reason to like and respect our President.


Let twitterers follow the daily mouthings of Palin and other stellar citizens...

[VicksieDo]

01:33 PM on 11/16/2009

Did ANYONE actually think Pres Obama was tweeting himself? Come on.

[hypnotoad72]

12:59 PM on 11/16/2009

President Obama is no twit. :-)

[uglygnome]

11:09 AM on 11/16/2009

And I hope he never does. Twitter is the last refuge of those with extreme cases of attention deficit disorder.

[Tamy Emma Pepin]

10:30 AM on 11/16/2009

No?! You mean the President of the United States is not spending his 0.5 free minutes of the day tweeting and trying to provide citizens with healthcare instead?

Major crime.

[satanlite]

01:44 PM on 11/16/2009

Really. He reserves that moment for someone to 8it*h at him about smoking.

[randy44]

10:29 AM on 11/16/2009

President Obama has brains and is a real writer and speaker. He's not a brainless twittering Republican who love tweeting in shorhand.

[satanlite]

01:48 PM on 11/16/2009

Palin.

[whiteboyblues]

03:11 PM on 11/16/2009

...and McCain

[HBHB]

10:28 AM on 11/16/2009

I'm actually very happy to hear that he's never twitted. Otherwise this isn't really news worthy.

[PennsyLiberal]

10:25 AM on 11/16/2009

OMG, the President has never tweeted! Stop the presses. Could it be he's a little busy for such nonsense? Unlike our Reps & Sens who sit there tweeting during his speech. I am soooo proud.