Obama campaign unveils new Facebook page design

President Obama unveiled Timeline on his official Facebook page Thursday, another milestone in his campaign’s progressive social media strategy.

Obama highlights “job creation from December 2007 to present” in the cover photo at the top of the newly designed Facebook page, an indication that the Timeline — managed by Obama’s reelection campaign — is in full campaign mode.

Obama's social media presence, widely respected for its effectiveness when he was elected in 2008, has been updated for his reelection campaign to include Google+ and Spotify, and his advertising appears on many other popular social sharing sites.

The GOP presidential candidates struggle to keep up in comparison. Mitt Romney has made innovative use of Google+ for interviews and interactive live chats, and of Twitter for microtargeting, and Ann Romney recently signed onto the virtual scrapbooking site Pinterest. Newt Gingrich is the only other GOP candidate who has switched to Facebook profile to Timeline so far.

The Obama campaign made full use of the visual components of Facebook when designing Obama’s Timeline, highlighting photos sent in by supporters, videos posted by the White House, and talked-about events including the president singing Al Green at a fundraiser in January.

Events on Obama’s timeline extend from the present back to 1971, then jump to a memorable entry for Obama’s birth that reads: “Born on Aug. 4, 1961, Made in the USA” along with a photo of a mug printed with Obama’s birth certificate that is available for sale on the campaign’s website.

The mug is a reference to the persistent conspiracy that Obama is not a legal citizen of the United States due to either his birthplace or the citizenship of his parents at the time he was born.

The story of #Obama2012, now told as a timeline: OFA.BO/zXvUAP

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) March 1, 2012

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