Hillary's Website Includes Some Fun Surprises

There are two aspects to any presidential campaign, whether it's for the middle school presidency or the big chair in the oval office of the White House. These two powerhouse elements are content and strategy. A candidate's campaign strategy is his or her best chance for getting a message across to the demographic they really want to reach, and having a well-managed campaign strategy is therefore critical to success. Luckily for Hillary Clinton, her bid for the presidency will probably not be plagued by as much angst as Peter Russo's infamous campaign for governor of Pennsylvania in House of Cards. Not only is the content of her campaign platform build on a sturdy basis, but Clinton's technology-savvy strategy will get her ahead of the competition — including a couple of Easter eggs hidden in her website.

Everyone knows by now that Clinton announced her candidacy via a short and sweet video on Sunday afternoon. The video was not only very casual — it depicted a number of families relaxing at home, and a great shot of Clinton drinking whatever signature coffee drink she prefers at a low-key cafe — but also highly symbolic. One Australian newspaper said her announcement style was "a sign of dominance." That descriptor could probably be applied to Clinton's extended image.

She has used the technology available to her, even the scandal of her protected private email, to her advantage, as any president would do. Her willingness to stay in touch with the times will make her relatable to millions of voters who might otherwise feel none of the presidential candidates were accessible. While Mitt Romney — who is not running for president — did join the streaming app Meerkat, he did so while characterizing himself as "another old guy." Hillary is hip without compromise. Here are the top seven times in recent memory she was more tech-savvy than most of us, including those aforementioned promised Easter eggs.

Her Website's Source Code

In a clever move no doubt catered to techies everywhere — or at least people who are tech-y enough to know how to access the source code for a website — Clinton subtly added her own logo to the HTML for her campaign site. This code has absolutely no function — no commands, no content — besides looking just like her highly-contested campaign logo. Brava.

The 404 Page

Oh, you. Clinton's campaign website leaves no stone unturned. Instead of leaving the site's 404 error page blank, her designers included a hilarious old photo of Hillary, Bill, and Chelsea at Disney World with a caption so punny that Bill probably made it up.

Texts From Hillary

She was so cool about the popular blog Texts From Hillary, which imagined the snappy retorts she might be making via blackberry, that she hung out with the creators of the blog.

Joining Twitter

While it's true that most of us have joined Twitter, Clinton's strategic Twitter management is pretty impressive. Up until now, she has completely personally managed her account. Now that she's in the big leagues, she's taking care to distinguish her own voice from that of her campaign team by marking her own tweets with a signature sign-off.

Hiring a Google Exec

Before announcing, Clinton hired Stephanie Hannon, Google's director of product management for civic innovation and social impact, to be in charge of tech operations on her campaign. Hannon is not only an experienced choice, but she'll keep Clinton's campaign up-to-date on the most current ways to stay in touch with the public.

Blackberry Loyalty

While some may think Clinton's insistence on sticking with a Blackberry marks her as old-fashioned, I would have to disagree. Instead, it shows that she's proud to have mastered a piece of technology and she is loyal enough not to bow down to peer pressure.

Net Neutrality

Luckily for us, Clinton supports net neutrality. If nothing else, this is an awesome indicator that Hillary is totally tech-friendly and wants to get down with the web and into the Internet. (I'll stop now.)

Images: Tumblr/textsfromhillaryclinton (1), Tumblr/imwithkanye (1); Getty Images (3); hillaryclinton.com (1)