Email gridlock in the White House

James Robertson

I've seen this story from Salon several places today (Facebook and ABC World News Tonight) about how the broken email in the White House is throwing off the groove of the White House staffers.

I figured this is as good a place as any as a starting point for our discussion on technology and life.

The article seems to equate some of Obama's campaign success to its online presence, which I've heard several other places, including our seminar class last semester. Salon goes on to say that the Obama White House feels "out of touch with the world" without email, and even the phone systems became clogged with voicemail messages.

And then there are the stories of Obama's Blackberry.

Both articles raise the point that Obama and his administration feel as though they've gone into a time warp, to a dark era before cell phones, email, and social networking. This raises several questions:

What ever did the White House do before email and voicemail? Did the White House staffers have to actually talk to each other?

All snark aside, there are some yet larger issues:

Is the lack of email just a scapegoat for a transition that is going slower than anticipated?

At what point do national security concerns outweigh the White House's desire to be on Facebook, IM, and BlackBarry One?

Should the administration be relying on only one form of communication? What contingency plans are in place in case it goes down again?

Does this situation represent a larger trend of electronic communication taking over for real, interpersonal contact? Should the government be taking part in such a trend?

As part of Obama's proposed transparency in government, should they be embracing social networking as a way to reach the people, or is it simply inappropriate to break down that wall? It's like being Facebook "friends" with your Mom--there's just something strange about it.

Feel free to discuss these questions, or raise others, in the comments.

Cross-posted to JamesGRobertson.com.