President Barack Obama officially has his own personal Twitter account.
For the past few years, President Obama has been utilizing two Twitter accounts, @WhiteHouse and @BarackObama. However, both of those accounts are run by Administration and Organizing for Action, the non-profit organization that advocates for President Obama’s legislation. On those accounts, only some of the tweets are from President Obama and are signed “-BO.” The tweets from the new account, @POTUS, will all be from him personally.
Check out his first tweet:
Hello, Twitter! It’s Barack. Really! Six years in, they’re finally giving me my own account.
— President Obama (@POTUS) May 18, 2015
Within minutes, the President had thousands of followers. He currently has over one million.
The White House also provided proof that it was actually President Obama tweeting:
President Obama. In the Oval Office. Tweeting. #WelcomeToTwitter, @POTUS! http://t.co/SzWXltjNK0 pic.twitter.com/ce4DurwYXj
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 18, 2015
His first interaction with another user on the account was a reply to a tweet from former President Bill Clinton:
Good question, @billclinton. The handle comes with the house. Know anyone interested in @FLOTUS?
— President Obama (@POTUS) May 18, 2015
His wife, Michelle Obama, and Vice President Joe Biden also welcomed him to Twitter:
It’s about time, @POTUS! –mo
— The First Lady (@FLOTUS) May 18, 2015
Hey @POTUS – Welcome to Twitter. See you around the neighborhood. –vp pic.twitter.com/iaUVFtQVpk
— Vice President Biden (@VP) May 18, 2015
“The @POTUS Twitter account will serve as a new way for President Obama to engage directly with the American people, with tweets coming exclusively from him,” White House blogger Alex Wall explained. “President Obama is committed to making his Administration the most open and participatory in history, and @POTUS will give Americans a new venue to engage on the issues that matter most to them.”
The @POTUS account will be passed on to future presidents.
