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Plenty has been said about how neat it is that our new President Barack Obama (Yay!) is posting his weekly radio addresses as videos on Youtube.

But, think about it for a second. The next President of the United States is a f'ing vlogger! How cool is that? Did you imagine that that might be the case 2, 3, 5 years ago?

Here's what's significant about Obama's vlogging:

Youtube is an equal-opportunity distribution platform. Although Obama's celebrity status plays a huge role in gaining exposure, it's as easy for his videos to be seen here as it is for anyone else's. Even with all his power, Obama chose not to rely on the established mass-media channels to share his thoughts with the citizens.

Obama has created a moderated forum for dialogue through comments. Who knows if the comments Obama will receive during his tenure will be relatively thoughtful compared to the average Youtube comments; but regardless, he's inviting this feedback in a public space.

Through his subscribers, Obama is creating a direct line of communication from himself to tens of thousands of his most ardent (and web-savvy) supporters. Just like blogging or Twittering, these streams of communication from one person to a group of followers enables people with massive popularity to cultivate a sense of intimacy with their audience. If these people were watching these videos on NBC, they wouldn't feel nearly as special as they do when they receive them through their Youtube subscription. And that sense of intimacy will pay off when Obama calls on them to take action.

Obama's videos are spreadable. Every single video that Obama posts to Youtube is ready and willing to be copied and pasted onto millions of other sites across the web. Good or bad. Aligned with his politics or not. Next to "appropriate content" or not. It doesn't matter. Obama wants his message to spread.

Not every tool is right for every brand. But, if you're worried that communicating in such an open public forum would make your brand too vulnerable to criticism or misrepresentation, think again. If it's good enough for the Office of the President of the United States, it's good enough for you.