Speechwriting, comms, and social media firsts at State of the Union

The White House released the speech early on medium, included several unprecedented words, and...leaked a picture of the president's brown suit?

by Laura Nichols 21 January 2015

President Barack Obama’s sixth State of the Union Address marked several firsts on Tuesday night, both in protocol and word choice.

In an unprecedented move — something increasingly common with the administration’s communications team — the speech (pre-ad-libs) premiered to the public at large, and not just as an embargoed document for members of the media.

Making it available on Medium, the White House encouraged anyone who wanted to "follow along with the speech as you watch in real time, view charts and infographics on key areas, tweet favorite lines, and leave notes" to do so. It linked to WhiteHouse.gov, a livestream of the speech, and related content.

People paid attention, too, even if it wasn’t for the reasons the White House intended.

Google: most searched questions during the SOTU: What is middle class income? Why are gas prices dropping? How much does the president make?
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) January 21, 2015

"What designer is Michelle Obama wearing?" was one of the top 5 questions asked about Michelle Obama tonight. #SOTU pic.twitter.com/SKd3Jqqpgu
— Google Politics (@googlepolitics) January 21, 2015

Here are the top questions people asked @google during tonight's #sotu: pic.twitter.com/3BTlGBVCLZ
— Google Politics (@googlepolitics) January 21, 2015

Obama prompted more buzz on social media by using several words previously unheard of in a State of the Union address. Some, like "transgender," were celebrated online. BuzzFeed has a rundown of terms that were firsts for the annual speech, including "ironic," "fake," and "Tesla."

"Transgender" mentioned once this year - the first time ever in a #SOTU, according to Buzzfeed's @chrisgeidner.
— Ronan Farrow (@RonanFarrow) January 21, 2015

hmm, jake tapper, not sure i'd put obama's first-ever mention of instagram on the level of his first-ever mention of transgender, but uh, k.
— Tony Romm (@TonyRomm) January 21, 2015

Sitting with dozens of college students watching #SOTU, issues that got most applause: jobs, equal pay, enviro justice, social equality.
— Sarah Clements (@sfclem) January 21, 2015

Imagine being the kind of person who was proud and felt justified in not standing up to applaud equality. #SOTU
— Anne T. Donahue (@annetdonahue) January 21, 2015

"I do not stand and clap for equality!" - a frightening number of people in that room #SOTU
— Kim Holcomb (@kimholcomb) January 21, 2015

Not forgetting the nation’s lawmakers, USA Today kept tabs on tweets by members of Congress.

From the White House alone, social media use was rampant: @WhiteHouse and @BarackObama live-tweeted the president’s quotes and the White House’s Instagram account posted several photos throughout the day, teasing the address and later featuring stills and video.

One post – of the president’s infamous tan suit – got people talking and may have been an early indicator of the president’s mood on Tuesday night. It got #YesWeTan trending nationally.

President Obama's suiting up for the big speech. Watch at 9pm ET → http://t.co/NKU3ndKHOu #YesWeTan pic.twitter.com/l7EJZYVk9s
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 21, 2015

While Obama didn’t ultimately sport the tan suit a second time, he was certainly at ease Tuesday night, going off-script more than once to make a point and to respond to critics.

"It's 2015. It's time." —Obama #SOTU pic.twitter.com/0YZB7J8Q70
— HuffPost Live (@HuffPostLive) January 21, 2015

Obama: "I have no more campaigns to run." Republicans: *applause* All: *laughter* Obama: "I know because I won both of them." #SOTUBURN.
— Mashable (@mashable) January 21, 2015

Many observers pointed to Speaker of the House John Boehner’s team perhaps being a bit too eager to share the Republican response. Vox.com had the full text of Senator Joni Ernst’s speech online before 10 pm.