Updated

The White House is joining the popular social network sites of Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.

On Friday, The White House added the features to its main Web page, whitehouse.gov. The sites contain information about combatting swine flu and will be updated with information on other topics as time goes by.

White House new media director Macon Phillips said the administration will not be able to reply individually to people who send messages via Facebook, MySpace or Twitter. But, he said, "people who join these groups can speak to one another, and we can see what they're saying."

Phillips said President Barack Obama has a separate Facebook profile that will continue to be maintained by the Democratic National Committee.