Twitter, Joe Biden’s @POTUS Account, and a New Policy

Social media gained popularity and it is hard to imagine the modern world without it. Interestingly, the next president of the U.S. is going to need some Twitter followers. It is worth mentioning that, Twitter plans to eliminate all followers from the @POTUS as well as @WhiteHouse accounts once Biden is sworn in on January 20th. As a reminder, the Trump administration took over the accounts from the Obama administration.

Based on information provided by Twitter, the followers of the following accounts will be suspended: @VP, @FLOTUS, @PressSec, @Cabinet, @LaCasaBlanca.

As stated above, this is a reversal from what social networking service did in 2017 when the Trump administration took over accounts from the Obama administration. Importantly, back then, Twitter essentially duplicated the existing accounts, creating an archive of Obama-era tweets as well as followers. The social media network built a new set of accounts for the new administration that kept all of those followers without any of the tweets.

Twitter and its approach

Interestingly, microblogging and social networking service did not disclose the reason why it decided to change its policy. It is worth mentioning that, on Inauguration Day, anyone who follows one of the transitioning handles will receive a notification that the account is being archived. Moreover, they will be able to choose if they want to follow the Biden administration’s new accounts or not.

Importantly, those accounts have significant followings to rebuild: @POTUS has 33 million followers. Moreover, @WhiteHouse has 26 million and @FLOTUS has 16 million, while @PressSec has 6 million.

Leaders around the world are actively using social media networks. Biden administration has the potential to rebuild the accounts. However, it would take to reach the same results. Last but not least, Donald Trump will still be in control of @realDonaldTrump. However, with fewer protections.