Presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich made the switch to the new Facebook Timeline Monday.
Gingrich was the first presidential candidate to switch to Timeline, ahead of even President Barack Obama, whose 2008 presidential campaign was noted for its technological and social media saavy. As of Tuesday morning, Gingrich is still the only candidate to use Timeline.
The decision to make the switch to Timeline came about three weeks ago, and was implemented by a team of three to four people, Vincent Harris, New Media Consultant with the Gingrich campaign, told The Daily Caller. Harris lead the team to rollout Gingrich’s Timeline transition.
Gingrich’s Timeline features aspects of his academic and political career, as well as various YouTube videos of his speeches, life events, and endorsements from major political figures.
“Timeline was a fantastic tool to showcase his long conservative record,” said Harris. “Facebook Timeline was made for this exact occasion, to show someone’s life.”
Timeline allows users to highlight the life events they think are most important, while glossing over others. The Hill noted Monday that “the omission of some events – including Gingrich’s previous marriages – that were raising eyebrows online.”
“Gingrich’s resignation from Congress is simply noted as ‘Ended work at the United States House of Representatives,'” the Hill explains. “Meanwhile, the birth of his children from prior marriages is mentioned without context.”
As of Tuesday morning, the former Speaker of the House had 2,270 subscribers to his Facebook news feed, and Harris told TheDC that the response has been quite positive.
“The Speaker has said multiple times publicly, including in South Carolina, that he wanted to be the Internet candidate,” said Harris. “This is the Speaker holding good on that promise.”