The Evolution of WhiteHouse.gov

What have been the most popular features of WhiteHouse.gov since its launch in 1994? Apparently any content having to do with the first pets, White House web managers from the Clinton and Bush administrations said Monday during the Politics Online Conference.
Back in the Clinton years, David Lytel was ecstatic when he figured out how to make Socks, the president’s cat, meow online. When George W. Bush took office, David Almacy remembered that one of the newest and most popular features was the “Barney Cam,” which chronicled the president’s Scottish Terrier.
These were some of the anecdotes that those charged with managing WhiteHouse.gov since it’s inception recalled. In a keynote panel moderated by CNN’s John King, Lytel, Almacy and Rob Klause, who has worked both in the Bush and Obama administrations, chronicled how the executive branch’s website has changed.
What became clear quickly is WhiteHouse.gov has been seeking to adapt as fast as possible to the constant changes in Internet technology. Lytel recalled that he was successful in launching the site in 1994 in large part because of the loose organization of the Clinton administration. If there has been more control, he said, he never would have gotten everything approved before posting it online. (He called his team a “band of rogue operators.”)
The first iteration of the White House’s site was a few static pages designed to accomplish a policy goal of the Clinton White House: “So people could see what the Internet could do,” he said. The site was redesigned in 1995 to include audio and image mapping.
When George W. Bush took office, the website adapted, adding video like the “Barney Cam” and an “Ask the White House” feature. Almacy said he viewed the website primarily as a tool to disseminate information. “It was not a place for commentary,” he said. Almacy was also limited by several privacy regulations, including a prohibition from linking to anything that didn’t have a “.gov” or “.mil” URL.
Almacy also noted that he was the administration’s spokesman for the blogosphere, charged with answering questions from bloggers.
Klause oversaw the transition of WhiteHouse.gov from Bush’s administration to Obama’s. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he noted that Obama’s approach to the website was “vastly different” than Bush’s. During the transition, he was working with his team when “suddenly everyone stops and we hear this voice from down the hallway, ‘Where’s my new media team?’” The voice was Obama’s, and Klause said it was very clear that the president was well aware of his online presence and its importance. More, unlike in the Bush years, there was a New Media Affairs office and a dedication to carrying over the themes of Obama’s campaign—from transparency and increased population to the fonts and colors—to the White House website.
“You definitely see the brand,” Klause said. Jeremy P. Jacobs is the staff writer at Politics. He can be reached at jjacobs@politicsmagazine.com