POTUS Joined Twitter After Waiting 6 Years — This Is How Obama Was Welcomed
The President of the United States (@POTUS) joined Twitter after six long years of waiting, and he was welcomed by hundreds of thousands of followers in the blink of an eye.
Ever wondered what happens when POTUS joins Twitter? Well, on Monday, you got your answer. At the time this article was written, the @POTUS account had more than 520,000 followers (and growing rapidly) and only one tweet. This is how President Obama introduced himself to the twittersphere.
Hello, Twitter! It’s Barack. Really! Six years in, they’re finally giving me my own account.
— President Obama (@POTUS) May 18, 2015
The tweet has earned POTUS almost 83,000 retweets (that’s people who like the tweet and share with their followers) and more than 95,000 favorites. So how do we know that this is actually POTUS joining Twitter and not an impostor? Well, it’s simple really, he has that blue check mark next to his handle, which means he is verified by the social media site and also the White House made an announcement.
“Dad, husband, and 44th President of the United States. Tweets may be archived.” Obama describes himself on his bio in less than the 140 characters allowed by Twitter.
POTUS joined Twitter as the nation prepares to elect his successor next year and things heat up in the Presidential campaign, so we wonder how Obama will use this new platform. We know that he is the coolest to hold the office as far as social media is concerned, and is apparently better connected to the youth of this country and the world than any of his predecessors.
Despite his busy schedule, POTUS took the time to follow 65 users (so far), mostly government agencies, other powerful government officials and cabinet members, higher education institutions, and sports entities (mostly in his hometown of Chicago). Of course, he is following his wife, @FLOTUS or the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, and other close advisers like Valerie Jarrett.
Here is how POTUS was welcomed when he joined Twitter.
According to the information released, this is President Obama’s personal account, not to be confused by @BarackObama, a campaign account. So what can POTUS expect after joining Twitter? Everything everyone who uses social media gets, the good and the bad.
No question his detractors will point out the fact that while there is much turmoil in the world, POTUS is joining Twitter and worried about how many followers he has. Perhaps they have a point, but can’t the man have some fun?
What do you think about POTUS joining Twitter? Will you follow Obama’s personal account?
[Photo by Getty Images]
