President Obama adds Pinterest to his social networks

How many people know the recipe for President Barack Obama's family chili? Before today, probably not many. But now anyone on the social-networking site Pinterest can find out how many onions, ground beef, and kidney beans the recipe takes, and then pin it to their own profile if they like.

Obama has added the popular virtual pinboard site Pinterest to his social-networking trove and today his filled-out profile page with eight boards and 44 pins was made public. According to tech news site Mashable, the Obama campaign set up the account a few weeks ago, but there wasn't any activity until today.

Besides a board titled "Obama-inspired recipes," there are boards named "Pet Lovers for Obama" with photos of the presidential dog Bo, "Just the Facts" that explains some of the president's policy points such as health care reform, and a couple photo albums that show Obama on the road and with his family. At the time of this writing, he has 3038 followers and counting.

Obama is a dedicated social-networking buff; in addition to Pinterest, he has accounts with Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr, Google+, and Myspace. However, as his Pinterest profile says, "This page is run by Obama for America, President Obama's 2012 campaign."

What this means is that the president's social-networking accounts are run by his campaign staffers and once in a while he will pop in with cameo updates. For example, on Obama's Twitter account, his staff regularly tweets on his behalf and anything written by him includes the word "bo."

According to The Washington Post, none of the Republican candidates have signed up for Pinterest yet. However, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's wife -- Ann Romney -- did debut her own page last month with seven boards, including "Things I Love," "Patriotic," and "Books Worth Reading."