The Monkey Shack

At 12:01 PM Eastern Time, before Barack Obama had even taken the oath of office, WhiteHouse.gov, the internet home of the President's administration, had already changed over. The site is promised to "be a central part of President Obama's pledge to make his the most transparent and accountable administration in American history."

The site contained several pre-written blog posts, all date-stamped Tue, January 20, 12:01 p.m. EST. One of the entries was written by Macon Phillips, who introduces the role of the website for Obama's campaign to promote communication, transparency and participation, as well as introducing himself as Director of New Media, a newly created position within Obama's staff.

One thing that will be interesting to watch is whether or not Obama will break his silence online. Jay Rosen of PressThink has some advice for the 44th President: "Write it yourself."

From Rosen's blog, describing a DNC event that place prior to the official start of Obama's presidential campaign:

"Obama: 'We’re really glad the bloggers are here to get the word out. In fact, I may be coming to you for advice because I’m going to start blogging at my campaign website…'

"I have advice for him. Cupping my hands to make a faux megaphone, I shout out to Barack Obama, 'write it yourself!' Meaning: Don’t start a blog and make it an extension of the press release. You’d be worse off, with a lame blog and a blown start in the race to be smart online. Don’t start a Barack Obama blog at all unless you are willing to write it yourself. He heard me (and saw me) and chuckled. 'When I find three hours of free time in my day, I will do that.'

"Which was a diss. But a polite, smiley one; certainly I took no offense. Later on he did start writing blog posts himself— on Daily Kos, for example.

"On Saturday, as he made his way by train to Washington for inauguration as our 44th president, that was still my advice: write it yourself. You don’t have to do things the way they have always been done. Turn the page, is the way Obama put it during the 2008 campaign. I like that image. But once you turn the page you have to write it yourself."