Washington - US President Barack Obama, as promised, put his first weekly address from the White House on YouTube on Saturday, sparking a raucous debate in the comments section of the video-sharing site.

The five-minute video, in which Obama promoted his economic stimulus plan, had drawn more than 210 000 views and 1 000 comments some 12 hours after it was released on the White House YouTube channel at user/whitehouse

The video of Obama's first weekly address since being sworn in as the 44th president of the United States on Tuesday was also available on the official White House website, Whitehouse.

There was no comments option on whitehouse.gov but hundreds of people weighed in with their opinions on the YouTube version of the video.

"roberthehn" was the first writing "I am so glad that I voted for you President Obama."

"MichaelAwesome" was next saying "Obama's the man with the master plan."

"tuneiton" thought the YouTube videos were a great idea, saying "These White House vlogs are another milestone of the digital age. Obama is just too cool."

"BrettR4763" chipped in with: "Finally, the White House is on YouTube. Not sure how long they will allow comments on the office's official page, but thank you so much, Mr President!"

A number of viewers debated the merits of the $825-billion stimulus plan with some accusing Obama of being a "socialist."

There were a few overtly racist remarks and an oddly high number of comments from users purporting to be Italian.

"cokie1982" urged impatient fellow viewers to give Obama some time. "Give him a Break. He has been President for a total of 5 days. It took God 7 days to create the earth AND he wasn't having to fix other peoples screw ups."

Since winning the November 4 presidential election, Obama had been making weekly addresses and posting them on his transition website, Change, and YouTube.

Besides Obama's first weekly address, the White House YouTube channel also features a video of his inaugural address. It has drawn more than 820 000 views as of Saturday.