Joe Biden dives into Instagram with Obama selfie
Vice President Joe Biden joined the photo-sharing app Instagram on Wednesday, and quickly got down to business snapping a staple of the site: the selfie.
During a joint trip to Oakdale, Pa., Wednesday, the vice president took a shot of himself riding in a car with President Obama.
"Found a friend to join my first selfie on Instagram. Thanks for following and stay tuned," Biden wrote of the message. He signed it, "-VP," an indication that it was Biden himself who wrote the post rather than a staff member.
The first photo on his account, @VP featured an artsy shot with a blurry background of the vice president reviewing documents with his trademark aviator sunglasses in sharp relief in the foreground.
While that photo was surely White House approved, selfies have caused trouble at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. before. During a visit with the Boston Red Sox earlier this month, player David Ortiz took a selfie with the president with his Samsung phone that turned out to be a promotional stunt for the phone company. It drew a reproach from the White House, which does not condone the use of the president's image for commercial purposes.
Biden got a warm welcome from Gov. Chris Christie, who quickly immersed him in the site's lingo. He posted an old photo of the two of them standing outside the University of Delaware stadium with their families.
"#tbts always trump #selfies. Welcome to Instagram@VP! #tbt @udbluehens," Christie wrote. "TBT" is an acronym that means "throwback Thursday," used to tag years-old photos that people post on social media.