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The most technologically-advanced president in history was greeted by a frenzy of activity on social networks and websites as many millions participated in Barack Obama's inauguration on the internet.

Change came to WhiteHouse.gov at precisely 12:01 p.m. EST, when the presidential website was updated to reflect the new man in charge.

"The White House. President Barack Obama," reads the top of the new home page, which went live even before President Obama finished delivering his first speech. "Welcome to the new WhiteHouse.gov. Change has come to America."

The site has been redesigned and looks similar to the Change.gov website used by President Obama's transition team. The website says it will be "a central part of President Obama's pledge to make his the most transparent and accountable administration in American history".

The site has a blog and the first entry has been written by Macon Phillips, director of new media for the White House. He promises video and slide shows of inauguration events, the Obamas' move into the presidential residence and the new president's first days in office.

He said the new site would revolve around communication, transparency and participation. In particular, he promises that Americans will get the chance to comment on new legislation before it is enacted.

"President Obama started his career as a community organiser on the South Side of Chicago, where he saw first-hand what people can do when they come together for a common cause. Citizen participation will be a priority for the Administration, and the internet will play an important role in that.

"One significant addition to WhiteHouse.gov reflects a campaign promise from the President: we will publish all non-emergency legislation to the website for five days and allow the public to review and comment before the President signs it," Mr Phillips writes.

In a big day for live streaming of television pictures on the web, more than a dozen mainstream news sites such as CNN, CBS and the BBC, as well as Times Online, showed live pictures from Washington.

There were early reports of mixed results with some networks able to cope better than others with the huge numbers of people signing in to watch the ceremony.

Millions of people shared their experiences of the day via websites such as Facebook and Twitter. On Flickr, thousands of photos were uploaded to the special Inauguration 2009 group. Thousands more uploaded videos to YouTube. CNN linked up with Microsoft to create an image of "The Moment" President Obama took the oath of office. Photos provided by CNN and others in the crowd who sent their pictures in were developed into a 3-D "synth" by Microsoft using its Photosynth technology.

At the peak of the ceremony more than 4,000 people on average were leaving comments every minute on a special Facebook tool on CNN, the social network said. There were 8,500 status updates the minute President Obama began his speech.

More than 600,000 status updates had been made using the tool, it said.

CNN said it broke records for live streaming of video and page views of its website. It announced that, according to early data, CNN.com had generated more than 136 million page views, while CNN.com Live served more than 21.3 million live video streams globally since 6am, shattering its total daily streaming record set on Election Day with 5.3 million live streams.

CNN.com Live estimated it served more than 1.3 million concurrent live streams during its peak, which occurred immediately prior to President Obama's inaugural address.

Elsewhere on the web the State Department's site also got a makeover, with a photo of Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton at her Senate confirmation hearing, along with a transcript of her remarks there, replacing Condoleezza Rice's picture.

Mrs Clinton has not yet been confirmed, but the revamped homepage includes her new motto for the agency: "Diplomacy in Action."

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