Barack Obama's BlackBerry Addiction

Who doesn’t love e-mail? Even my grandparents have jumped on the bandwagon, using e-mail as a means of communicating with me around the clock. This form of correspondence has done amazing things for our society, creating an instant connection between people across the globe. It’s hard to imagine how international businesses survived before the days of Outlook Express and Google Mail. As a college student, I use e-mail on a daily basis, whether I’m sending a paper to a professor, e-mailing my brother a YouTube video or organizing a study group meeting time. 


The scope of e-mail’s influence also extends to the political spectrum. When President Obama entered the White House this past January, he made headlines with his decision to keep his personal BlackBerry in order to stay in communication with family and friends. This arrangement was made possible by a special software approved by U.S. intelligence officials that allows him to send e-mails without the risk of hackers reading his messages.

Obviously, the fear behind President Obama’s choice to maintain his personal e-mail account is that confidential data will be compromised by outside sources. FBI agents use BlackBerrys to share important information using similar software programs, but they do not have the same fame and recognition that President Obama has now. The fascination and celebrity-worship that he has encountered since his campaign make him an obvious target for the most technologically skilled hackers.
 In spite of these and other safety risks, President Obama cannot give up e-mail because of the role it has played in his life up until this point. Whereas previous leaders like President Clinton and President Bush barely thought about abandoning e-mail altogether, President Obama belongs to a different generation. Roger Entner, a telecommunications analyst with the Nielsen Company addressed this generational gap, explaining that, “With all due respect to Presidents Clinton and Bush, they didn’t really grow up with these mobile devices. President Obama is like so many others of his generation—this is the device that helps determine how he perceives the rest of the world.” 


I think it’s admirable that President Obama wants to maintain contact with friends and former colleagues that are outside of his Washington D.C. bubble. As our President, Obama is expected to maintain an understanding of the common struggles of middle America in order to improve our quality of life. While I don’t have any personal experience being President of the United States, I can imagine that it becomes difficult to stay in touch with the backbone of our country when you’re constantly surrounded by Secret Service officers, journalists and political advisors. Hopefully maintaining his e-mail account will help President Obama maintain the sense of empathy and understanding that helped him advance to his current role as our nation’s leader.

-Sarah