Yesterday, the President of the United States did something no other President has ever done before: he took a moment out of his extremely busy day and started up an AMA on Reddit. Otherwise known as an “Ask Me Anything” thread on the ever popular social media site, these posts are used by celebrities, industry moguls, and just really anyone who thinks that taking a bunch of questions from random Internet fodder.

In this case, the President sat down with his Mac somewhere ensconced in the White House and spent 30 minutes answering questions posed to him by Redditors. The thread has pulled down over 2,3000 comments as of the publication of this article; but since the AMA is officially over the President isn’t answering questions any more.

In his 30 minutes, the President answered questions with little political content and even suggested the future revelation of the recipe of the White House beer. In all, it wasn’t like a press conference or a debate where Obama could answer hard-hitting and well-thought-out questions; it was more like a sit-down-in-a-pub session with someone thousands of miles away on a keyboard. The reference to beer only helped the pub-style commentary.

The questions posed to the President limned the wide variety of political interests on Reddit and Obama picked and chose the questions carefully. He avoided highly contentious issues including current privacy issues with wiretapping laws and cybersecurity; but he did answer a light-hearted question about the Internet and freedom in that regard:

Question:

We know how Republicans feel about protecting Internet Freedom. Is Internet Freedom an issue you’d push to add to the Democratic Party’s 2012 platform?

Answer:

Internet freedom is something I know you all care passionately about; I do too. We will fight hard to make sure that the internet remains the open forum for everybody – from those who are expressing an idea to those to want to start a business. And although there will be occasional disagreements on the details of various legislative proposals, I won’t stray from that principle – and it will be reflected in the platform.

And he even picked up a question about the current state of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA):

Question:

Are you considering increasing funds to the space program?

Answer:

Making sure we stay at the forefront of space exploration is a big priority for my administration. The passing of Neil Armstrong this week is a reminder of the inspiration and wonder that our space program has provided in the past; the curiosity probe on mars is a reminder of what remains to be discovered. The key is to make sure that we invest in cutting edge research that can take us to the next level – so even as we continue work with the international space station, we are focused on a potential mission to a asteroid as a prelude to a manned Mars flight.

Ignored questions did range from the truly inane such as those about cats or “boxers or briefs” to extremely well worded questions about current policy regarding all the above issues, to current wars, and even how Obama feels about his political opponents. However, with the limited time to answer questions, many of the replies happened to feel somewhat clipped and extremely well coached.

Unlike a press conference, an AMA session on Reddit allows a commenter to pick and choose their questions from (potentially) a sea of curiosity. No doubt a thousand questions flooded in the moment the President sat down at his keyboard to start answering them and typing out a message allows for more thought-editing than a fastball Q&A session in front of a microphone. It also means that less questions get answered and potentially with more or less satisfaction than a conference.

Getting the President on Powerful Social Media Wasn’t As Hard as it Seems

According to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian who spoke to AllThingsD via e-mail, getting the President to do an AMA was an easy sell. The Obama Administration has been hip and savvy to social media from the outset of their 2008 campaign and today’s foray into the wild, wholly world of Reddit is no exception to that suave. No doubt, the fact that Reddit is such a powerful force for both politics and political justice on the Internet swayed the President’s decision to appear.

How easy was it? Ohanian answers,

There’s not a lot to it. I’ve gotten to know quite a few folks in the WH & Obama campaign team over the years and it was always something I brought up when I got the chance. There are quite a few redditors at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave and at the campaign HQ — given the prominence of reddit, it’s an easy sell.

Apparently the reach of Reddit is not just measured with its ability to pull in thousands of Internet commenters, drive letter-writing-campaigns, or phone-call campaigns; but there are Redditors embedded in potentially many offices in Washington DC. Some of whom might even be aides or operators in the grinding gears of the very political system of the office of the POTUS.

Politics and technology go hand-in-hand. With the 2012 Presidential campaigns revving up, we’re seeing more social media and technology companies jumping on board those that will hitch them to the upcoming swell of information that will be gushing out—so far we’ve seen it with Microsoft enabling the Xbox to be an impromptu straw-poll center for console owners.

As with the 2008 election, social media is generating a brand new circuit for both enabling voters to understand their to-be leaders and make decisions about them, or even discuss the decisions they’re making come the Presidential election in November.