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Obama's Facebook Forum Is a Little Ho-Hum

But we did get to see Mark Zuckerberg in a suit and tie

By John Johnson, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 20, 2011 7:20 PM CDT

(Newser) – Maybe the most suprising part of President Obama's town hall meeting at Facebook headquarters today was that Mark Zuckerberg ditched his hoodie and put on a suit and tie, writes Carla Marinucci at the San Francisco Chronicle. "For all its tech/youth/cutting edge promise, Facebook's event was pretty run of the mill. Frankly, the president was so long winded that just eight questions got aired—most of them very friendly, pretty predictable and very, very vanilla."

Obama used the forum to brand the Republican budget plan "radical," reports AP, but nothing much more noteworthy emerged. Still, the meeting "highlighted the increasing interdependence between the president and Silicon Valley," observes Cecelia Kang at the Washington Post. Obama needs Facebook and Silicon Valley to generate high-tech jobs, and Zuckerberg in turn would like to be in the good graces of the White House as his company undergoes ever-more scrutiny and tries to expland globally.

President Obama and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg take part in a town hall meeting at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

President Obama and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg take part in the town hall. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Obama and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg greet at the town hall meeting. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Obama and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg take part in the town hall. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

That's Mark Zuckerberg in a tie. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Obama laughs with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Obama and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg take part in a town hall meeting at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

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Obama's Facebook Forum Is a Little Ho-Hum

But we did get to see Mark Zuckerberg in a suit and tie

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