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It's a shame that it was seemingly(?)[1] a mere PR move and not very well thought out, or else intentionally much too whimsical. A much better format, if we re

It's a shame that it was seemingly(?)[1] a mere PR move and not very well thought out, or else intentionally much too whimsical. A much better format, if we really wanted to ask the president anything, would have been a two-stage AMA where Day 1 solicits questions, and Day 2 a new thread is made that replies to the top X most upvoted questions, and the comments for the second thread become a discussion of the answers. Many video AMAs work that way, and when the answerer doesn't want to spend all day in the thread I think it usually lets them answer less fanciful/quickly posted questions and more the questions that the community actually wants answered. Since Obama only allocated 30 minutes to answering, it definitely would have been a better choice. [1] It seems that one(?) of the questions might have been staged, as this user created their account on the day and asked the question very, very quickly into the thread: http://www.reddit.com/user/hmlee http://www.reddit.com/user/hmlee

GuiA 14y ago
Fully agree with you. I think the concept of AMAs is fantastic and a great example of how technology can be used to bring people closer to public figures (whether they are scientists, politicians, artists, etc.). Sadly, I think that Reddit as a platform leaves much to be desired here. Twitter fills that role in some way; Tumblr also allows a blog's audience to ask questions anonymously to the blogger, with the ones being answered autopublished. None of these approaches offer a fully satisfying solution though. It'd be great to see something that goes fully with the AMA spirit. Surprised Conde-Nast isn't banking more on it... and would be great if someone picked up that challenge :)
shardling 14y ago
Hmlee already explained what happened -- they were on a friends computer at the time, and it was easier to make a new account than to remember their login info. They wrote up the question quickly in an editor, so that they could use spell check. Then, make account, paste the text, hit submit. http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/31/3282911/reddit-obama-ama-plant-hmlee http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/31/3282911/reddit-obama-ama-p...
rayiner 14y ago
The drama about hmlee's post was completely non-sensical, resulting from a redditor's overestimation of the status of DOJ interns in the overall pecking order. It was the reddit hive-mind overreacting at its finest. There is of course little that reddit likes more than a conspiracy theory. In reality, the poster in question was a recent law school graduate (and classmate of mine) who interned at the DOJ, just like hundreds of law students each year. Her story was a common one even at top law schools: "took out a ton of debt and am still looking for work" and the question wasn't softball at all given what an explosive issue student debt is for people in the 18-25 demographic.
- beedogs 14y ago
  > The drama about hmlee's post was completely non-sensical, This describes all reddit witch-hunts ever. I swear, any time anyone posts an anecdote there, the "forensic experts" come out of the woodwork, calling bullshit for instant comment karma. It's tiresome.
  - jrockway 14y ago
    It's tiresome. I like it. Back in the day, I thought Reddit was for serious discussion and after being trolled one too many times, swore it off for good. But recently, I've learned that Reddit is for the consistency and experience. So, of course there's going to be a "forensic expert" that comes out of the woodwork for a high profile story. That's what makes it so amusing. Since I've started reading Reddit again, my highest-ranked comment is "[citation needed]". Not quite the same place as HN. (And no, I don't use my real name on Reddit anymore.)

GuiA 14y ago

Fully agree with you. I think the concept of AMAs is fantastic and a great example of how technology can be used to bring people closer to public figures (whether they are scientists, politicians, artists, etc.). Sadly, I think that Reddit as a platform leaves much to be desired here. Twitter fills that role in some way; Tumblr also allows a blog's audience to ask questions anonymously to the blogger, with the ones being answered autopublished. None of these approaches offer a fully satisfying solution though. It'd be great to see something that goes fully with the AMA spirit. Surprised Conde-Nast isn't banking more on it... and would be great if someone picked up that challenge :)

shardling 14y ago

Hmlee already explained what happened -- they were on a friends computer at the time, and it was easier to make a new account than to remember their login info. They wrote up the question quickly in an editor, so that they could use spell check. Then, make account, paste the text, hit submit. http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/31/3282911/reddit-obama-ama-plant-hmlee http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/31/3282911/reddit-obama-ama-p...

rayiner 14y ago

The drama about hmlee's post was completely non-sensical, resulting from a redditor's overestimation of the status of DOJ interns in the overall pecking order. It was the reddit hive-mind overreacting at its finest. There is of course little that reddit likes more than a conspiracy theory. In reality, the poster in question was a recent law school graduate (and classmate of mine) who interned at the DOJ, just like hundreds of law students each year. Her story was a common one even at top law schools: "took out a ton of debt and am still looking for work" and the question wasn't softball at all given what an explosive issue student debt is for people in the 18-25 demographic.

beedogs 14y ago
> The drama about hmlee's post was completely non-sensical, This describes all reddit witch-hunts ever. I swear, any time anyone posts an anecdote there, the "forensic experts" come out of the woodwork, calling bullshit for instant comment karma. It's tiresome.
- jrockway 14y ago
  It's tiresome. I like it. Back in the day, I thought Reddit was for serious discussion and after being trolled one too many times, swore it off for good. But recently, I've learned that Reddit is for the consistency and experience. So, of course there's going to be a "forensic expert" that comes out of the woodwork for a high profile story. That's what makes it so amusing. Since I've started reading Reddit again, my highest-ranked comment is "[citation needed]". Not quite the same place as HN. (And no, I don't use my real name on Reddit anymore.)