The next president will receive a complimentary gift of 36 million followers on social media channels.
The White House said Monday afternoon that President Obama’s @POTUS and @WhiteHouse Twitter handles, Facebook accounts and Instagram pages will be given to his successor starting Jan. 20, 2017. Among the three social media companies, the 45th president will enter the Oval Office with a sizable audience on social media.
Since launching his personal Twitter handle a year and a half ago, Obama has accrued 12.1 million followers, while the White House has 11.1 million. Obama has 2.8 million followers on Instagram under the White House’s name. Nearly 3 million Facebook users follow Obama on Facebook and 7.3 million have “liked” the White House’s Facebook page, giving the next president an online audience of 36 million, not including those who will subscribe to the first lady’s — or first gentleman’s — and vice president’s social media accounts.
All of Obama’s posts over the past eight years will be uploaded to his new account, @POTUS44. Messages from all White House-affiliated officials will be archived and handled by the National Archives and Records Administration.
Other accounts, including @FLOTUS, @WhiteHouse, @PressSec and @VP, will be changed to names like @VP44 and @FLOTUS44. The outgoing White House officials also will have their new accounts archived by NARA.
The next president also will take over the current Medium, Tumblr and YouTube accounts connected to the administration.
