Social networking giant Facebook is shortly to hire Obama's ex-press secretary.

Gibbs left the White House in January, and Facebook wants him to sort out their communications before an initial public offering next year, according to the New York Times.

The only difficulty is that Gibbs wants to play a role in Obama's re-election campaign, while Facebook wants him on board more quickly.

Talks are at an early stage and no formal offer has been made, the paper claims.

Aside from sorting out an IPO Facebook is also coming under increasing scrutiny from competition and privacy regulators, so having a spin doctor with top Washington connections would be very useful to the firm. ®

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