Remember when the online talk show “Between Two Ferns” scored a visit to the White House? Host Zach Galifianakis chatted with President Obama about healthcare, among other things. The episode went viral, of course. That’s the type of social media effort Macon Phillips applauds. Phillips was the 2008 Obama campaign’s digital guru and the man behind many of the Obama White House’s digital innovations (Change.gov and WhiteHouse.gov for example). Phillips talked with Sanford’s dean Kelly Brownell about the strategy he used to contribute to a winning campaign, and how he’s now using his digital talents with the State Department to revamp America’s “digital diplomacy.”

This talk is sponsored by POLIS: The Center for Politics, Leadership, Innovation and Service at Duke University.

• Music: Impromptu in Blue by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license.
• Artist: www.incompetech.com/
• Image: White House/Creative Commons
• Read the transcript