Tuesday, April 26, 2011

The President and His Blackberry

I knew that social media had a huge effect on the success of Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign before reading this chapter, but the details of the Blackberry controversy were unknown to me. I found this little section of the chapter to be the most interesting because I never really thought about the possible complications and dangers, even, of the President of the United States having a cell phone. Although the issue was resolved and Obama was allowed to keep possession of his Blackberry, I still question the how safe this could really be if he is using it for email. What if the emails were hacked somehow or his phone ends up in the wrong hands? There must be some kind of regulation of the kind of messages he is allowed to send and receive, otherwise who knows what breaches of national security we could encounter? While it seems crazy to restrict this seemingly essential device to the leader of our nation, I still have reservations about whether or not it really is a good idea.

2 comments:

  1. It is interesting, isn't it? And where would the TV series 24 have been without all those cell phones?

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  2. I agree! I feel as though on one hand it's crazy to think his blackberry should be taken from him. However, on the other hand, should he really relying on such a vulnerable device considering he is president? He could be restricted to using it only for personal use, but how badly could this be enforced? It is an interesting topic to think about it, because I really don't think there is a right answer. There are pros and cons to both sides of the argument.

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