Barack Obama, the 44^th President of the United States of America, just got inaugurated – one of those ‘where were you when….’ moments you only ever get a few times in a life time.

The ceremony was watched on television by a global audience of billions – and included all of us here at the Democratic Republic of markettiers4dc. It was the first inauguration where citizen journalism truly played a part in coverage with mobile phones, pocket camcorders and digital cameras capturing the moment.

Mobile phone operators had already anticipated the immense strain of more than 1 million well-wishers attending the inauguration and their mobile traffic – with images, messages, and a mass of global social networking on Obama’s inauguration being captured on Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube.

Even iPhone got in on the action – users were even able to download the UStream application and watch the milestone event on live streaming video, plus a guide to the inauguration was available for download. For those of you who were not gathered round your office TV to watch the big moment like us, live video streams online were readily available.

For a man who won an election, not only for being an inspirational speaker, but also by embracing social media so successfully, surely Obama will be pleased to hear the whole world has also embraced his big moment globally? Obama pledged to bring the White House into the 21^st century, by using information and communications technology – starting from today, and setting an example for businesses and organisations everywhere.

Change has certainly come to America.