Watch Obama's YouTube address

Although president-elect Barack Obama does not take office until January, he has begun his addresses to the American people in the form of weekly YouTube videos.

The first, uploaded this past weekend, has been viewed more than 800,000 times.

In it, he focuses almost entirely on the current global economic crisis. Comments have been disabled on the video.

Obama is set to become the first 'internet president' and his YouTube videos will replace President Bush's weekly radio broadcasts.



Analysts have pointed out that Obama ran a highly effective internet campaign embracing Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Second Life.

His own website MyObama.com was instrumental in raising over $600m in funding.

Weekly addresses first started during the presidency of Franklin D Rooselvelt when he embraced emerging radio technology to make frequent addresses to the nation, often with a roaring fire in the background.

The Miller Center has archived Roosevelt's 'Fireside speeches' and the weekly addresses along with those of present incumbents are available to stream.

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