Barack Obama's vice president announcement will be made first by text and email today, as the presidential hopeful continues to embrace the digital age.
The importance of blogs and social networks has come to the fore in American politics recently – with campaigns to become the party candidate being waged online as well as off.
Obama – the presumed Democratic candidate – has followed that trend, with his campaign team contacting supporters, who are registered for email and text alerts to say 'Barack's VP: Be the First to Know'.
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"Barack wants you to be the first to know his choice of running mate," campaign manager David Plouffe announced last week.
"Sign up to be the first to know. You will receive an email the moment Barack makes his decision, or you can receive a text message on your mobile phone."
Of course, if we're being picky the chances are that quite a few people will know before you, even if you do sign up, with Obama himself unlikely to be surprised and, you'd hope, the potential VP also aware of the situation.
The main candidates in the running for the job are: Tim Kaine of Virginia; Senator Joe Biden; Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty; and Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.
Let's just hope they have all got their phones switched on for the announcement today!
