Bringing a high-tech twist to the familiar forum of the town hall meeting, President Barack Obama on Thursday hosted a "virtual" town hall in the East Room of the White House, answering questions from attendees and from participants online...

In the 48 hours prior to the event, nearly 93,000 people submitted 104,092 questions. In the end, however, he answered only six questions submitted online.

But when voters came, they stayed a while. The average visitor to the Web site voted 30 to 45 times, the White House said.

Aaron Smith, a researcher at the Pew Internet and American Life Project, found the level of interest among participants impressive.

"It matches up with our research on what people expect from the administration," Smith said.