What happens to @POTUS? The tweets sent by the Obama administration and the followers the administration gained will transfer to a new handle: @POTUS44. Additionally, Twitter users who followed @POTUS will automatically follow the @POTUS44 account Friday, which will serve as an archive of the old tweets. You also can already see what that looks like via other members of the Obama administration who have archived their accounts ahead of Inauguration Day. So brace yourself for people taking screenshots that imply Trump deleted Obama's Twitter followers. What if I don't want to follow @POTUS under Trump? What if I want to keep following Obama's tweets? The @POTUS44 account (what was once @POTUS) will just be an archive of tweets. What about the other Twitter accounts? The same process of moving over accounts and followers will happen for other accounts other than POTUS.
/https%3A%2F%2Fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fcard%2Fimage%2F353671%2F933967a3-2bf9-424e-a21b-ce7184e57b1a.jpg)
Donald Trump is no stranger to Twitter.
The President-elect joined in March 2009 (according to his Twitter profile) and he, or whoever else controls his account, has sent more than 34,300 tweets over those almost eight years.
But Friday he and his administration will be inheriting a lot more power within the network. No longer will President Barack Obama — the man who oversaw and pushed a rapid embrace of digital media — run the @POTUS account.
Beyond inheriting Air Force One, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and the codes for roughly 4,500 nuclear weapons, Trump and his administration Friday will be the proud new owners of the @POTUS Twitter account, which currently boasts 13 million followers.
The process is a bit complex in part because it’s something that has never happened before, at least in the United States, so Mashable is here to walk you through what we know and what you need to know.
When does it happen?
Trump will be sworn in some time after 12 p.m. ET Friday. Obama and his administration will have access to the account during the morning hours.
Conveniently, you can watch all of this magic happen on Twitter. The platform will have a live video stream of the inauguration, plus accompanying coverage with PBS NewsHour.
You can expect Obama’s team to send off one last tweet, and you can expect it’ll be inspiring — not unlike what happened when Obama was elected and re-elected.
It may be one of the most retweeted tweets of all time.
What happens to @POTUS?
At some point Friday, the engineers at Twitter will make magic happen. The tweets sent by the Obama administration and the followers the administration gained will transfer to a new handle: @POTUS44.
Additionally, Twitter users who followed @POTUS will automatically follow the @POTUS44 account Friday, which will serve as an archive of the old tweets. That account — and many others that are undergoing a similar transfer — are already up.
The account is private and will become public Friday during the transition.
You also can already see what that looks like via other members of the Obama administration who have archived their accounts ahead of Inauguration Day.
These accounts will be maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration.
The @POTUS account will no longer have tweets but will retain all the followers. Therefore, you will automatically be following an account run by the Trump administration. Turns out Twitter thought it was weird if they just booted people off from following the president’s…
COMMENTS