The @POTUS account, with its 13.2 million followers, moves from the Obama administration to the Trump administration.
And, for now, Donald Trump intends to tweet as usual from both!
Photograph: Chris Kleponis-Pool/Getty Images
While many mourned the end of Barack Obama's years as President of the United States -- and protests against the Donald Trump presidency were reignited -- another transition occurred January 20.
Along with the Oval Office, and the power that comes with it, Trump inherited a second Twitter account!
The @POTUS account, which was created for the incumbent President and has 13.2 million followers, moved to the Trump administration.
'That means that if you currently follow @POTUS under the Obama administration,' Recode reported, 'you'll continue to follow the account as it moves under Trump's control. The stream of tweets will be wiped clean so Trump and his team can start fresh.'
Trump's personal Twitter account, @realDonaldTrump, has 20.3 million followers and he said that he intended to use both accounts.
'I think, I'll keep it... so I've got 46 million people right now -- that's a lot, that's really a lot -- but 46 million -- including Facebook, Twitter and ya know, Instagram, so when you think that you're 46 million there, I'd rather just let that build up and just keep it @realDonaldTrump, it's working and the tweeting, I thought I'd do less of it, but I'm covered so dishonestly by the press -- so dishonestly -- that I can put out Twitter -- and it's not 140, it's now 280 -- I can go bing bing bing,' he told The Sunday Times.
Trumps's Twitter habits have been a subject of mockery and anger throughout the US election cycle and a recent NBC/WSJ poll 'reported that 69 percent of Americans believe Trump's Twitter habits are a "bad thing,' and want him to cut back.
Trump's tweets -- whether based in truth or not -- have also shown the ability to move markets significantly. Now, with his increased power on the social networking medium, corporates are scrambling to put crisis management teams in place.
Trigger, a financial app, even created an alert to notify users when Trump tweets about a company they have stakes in. It quickly became the app's most popular feature.
Abbey Klaassen, chief marketing officer for ad agency 360i, told CBS that Trump's Twitter feed can instantly hurt or help a company: 'Presidents and brands have always intersected over the years, but this is an entirely new level of engagement.'
'One single tweet we've seen can eradicate market cap losses in the billions of dollars,' Trigger CEO Rachel Mayer added. 'One single tweet can adjust the strategy of a large Fortune 500 company.'
Obama also used two Twitter accounts, but as Recode pointed out, he used '@BarackObama primarily as a campaign vehicle, whereas @POTUS was more policy- and White House-focused. The tweets from both accounts are very polished and clearly reviewed by staff members. Trump, on the other hand, tweets in a way that no other politician has before, so it's hard to know what to expect from @POTUS.'
This was the first American presidential transition that required such a massive social media handover.
As the White House noted, 'President Obama is the first "social media president": The first to have @POTUS on Twitter, the first to go live on Facebook from the Oval Office, the first to answer questions from citizens on YouTube, the first to use a filter on Snapchat.'
To preserve this digital legacy, the White House began work in October 2016.
'While much of the digital transition is unprecedented in the United States, the peaceful transition of power is not... we are working to ensure that the next president and administration -- regardless of party -- can continue to use and develop the digital assets we have created to connect directly with the people they serve,' the White House had added.
Going forward, Twitter will automatically follow a new account for @POTUS followers -- @POTUS44 will archive Obama's tweets as President.
The same transition will apply to Michelle Obama's @FLOTUS account, which will now be archived as @FLOTUS44; and to outgoing Vice-President Joe Biden's @VP account, which will be available at @VP44.
