White House Joins Snapchat Before the State of the Union

It’s not enough for the president of the United States to reach the country through speeches and statements alone. No, these days you need Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat.

That’s right, alongside your friend’s Snapchat stories, you’ll now be able to view stories from the White House administration. The White House joining Snapchat is just one of many methods the administration — and politicians in general — are fighting for attention from millennials and Generation Z.

It’s not random that the administration joined Snapchat the day before President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union address. In a blog post announcing the administration has joined Snapchat, Joshua Miller, director of product management, said the “Official Story will take you behind the scenes of the White House’s State of the Union preparations, with footage and angles you won’t find anywhere else.”

Who knows? There are more than 100 million daily active Snapchat users, and the administration’s stories just might be able to reach them.

As for the first snap? Well, it’s nothing exciting. It’s the oval office with a bowl of apples in the middle.

Don’t worry, the unlike your stories and snaps, the White House’s content won’t disappear. The administration plays by different rules and has to save its snaps and stories as per governmental regulations, according to Mashable. Recently, President Obama joined Facebook to reach a wider audience, and before that his administration has incorporated YouTube, Vine, Instagram, Medium, and other platforms to engage and relate to the public.That can be seen in this year’s State of the Union address, where the President will answer questions on YouTube after being interviewed by a few leading YouTubers. The administration is promoting the hashtag #YouTubeAsksObama. For the first time, the State of the Union will also be available on Amazon.The address will begin at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday, January 12, and you can also watch it on WhiteHouse.gov.