Obama launches Facebook page

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama belatedly joined more than a billion other Facebook users Monday, signing up to the social networking site and using his first post to encourage action against climate change.

Extending efforts to use modern communications to reach younger and more diverse audiences, the White House posted a video of Obama walking around the South Lawn of the White House.



"I hope you'll think of this as a place where we can have real conversations about the most important issues facing our country," read a teaser for the video.



The footage shows Obama talking about his "backyard" for the last seven years, which has been known to host a fox, a hawk and many of Washington's omnipresent squirrels.

"There are a lot of critters out here," said Obama.

The political motive of the post was to urge support for tackling climate change.

Obama will travel to Paris at the end of this month, hoping to get global support for a deal to limit carbon emissions.

But facing a Republican-controlled Congress, which largely does not recognise the threat of climate change, he needs domestic support for a deal to stick.



The White House said it hopes Facebook would serve as a two-way street for discussion.

"This page will offer Americans a new venue to share their thoughts with the President on the issues that they care about the most," said Kori Schulman, the White House deputy director of digital strategy.