The White House Engages Reddit Community Amidst Hurricane Response

In an unexpected move, the White House has taken to Reddit to communicate with the public regarding the federal response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton. This initiative marks a notable shift in how governmental updates are disseminated, with the Biden administration utilizing the “whitehouse” account on Reddit to reach a broader audience in affected regions.

Typically, government announcements are shared through more conventional social media platforms such as Instagram and X. However, the White House has now extended its outreach to Reddit, engaging directly with users in subreddits such as r/NorthCarolina and r/Georgia. In one of the posts, the official account asserts its authenticity by stating, “Yep, it’s really us!”

This approach was confirmed by Reddit spokesperson Gina Antonini via an email to The Verge, verifying that the account is legitimate and carries an “Official” badge. Despite its legitimacy, questions remain about the account’s longevity on the platform, as its creation date, known as the “cake day” in Reddit parlance, is listed as January 7th, 2021. The White House has not clarified whether the account was previously active before its recent posts.

According to Megan Coyne, the White House’s Deputy Platforms Director, the account was initiated for this purpose. Initial postings from the account faced moderation issues; a post on r/Georgia was temporarily removed due to subreddit rules regarding title consistency with headlines but was later reinstated.

The move to Reddit has sparked varied reactions from the Reddit community, with one user exclaiming, “Who tf really thought the govt would start a Reddit account?” This unconventional approach reflects a broader strategy by the administration to utilize diverse online platforms for communication.