US President Barack Obama embrace of new technology will be no more evident than on his trip to Ghana.

Using his Blackberry phone, the former senator harnessed online networks like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to spread his message of hope and raise a record-breaking 650 million dollars.

The US president has already been inundated with thousands of text messages after he invited Africans all over the world to take part in a ‘continental conversation’.

Beyond texts, however, the White House is also allowing people to follow coverage of his visit on the website, Twitter.

An events page has also been set up on Facebook where live videos of selected events will be streamed online.

US media outlet Voice of America will also make portions of his speeches available for download online as part of their coverage and analysis of the President’s visit.

The BBC has already been airing a live coverage of the visit of US president.

Dr Amos Anyimadu, a political science lecturer at the University of Ghana who had been twittering from Joy FM studios Friday said the government of Ghana has a lot to learn from its US counterpart.

Dr. Amos Anyimadu has suggested that President Obama impart a few lessons to our very own President Mills.

“It’s been said that Barack Obama is the world’s first web 2.0 president. We have to be very circumspect in what we can realistically get from the visit. One of the small things that I think we can get is agitating the president’s (Mills’) interest in new media and its application to Ghana,” he stressed.

He emphasised that President could use his presence on Twitter to make his governance more transparent.

Meanwhile, traders in the central business district of Accra have taken the opportunity to make money by selling souvenirs of the superstar President.

T-shirts with Obama’s iconic picture are most popular with traders claiming to make lots of money from sale of these items.


Source: Joy News/Myjoyonline.com