Skip to main content

What happens to Obama’s @POTUS tweets when he’s done? The White House reveals all

potus social media white house
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Whether it’s Trump or Clinton, the 45th of President of the United States is set to take control of all the social media accounts that now come with the job.

After Obama took office in 2009, he became the first American leader to truly embrace social media, his administration opening a slew of accounts to engage more effectively with the U.S. electorate and wider world. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Periscope, YouTube, Vimeo – the White House is on them all.

Recommended Videos

Digital transition

So what of the digital transition in the coming months, when the new president takes office? As this’ll be the first changeover since the social media explosion, the White House has decided to draw up a list of plans explaining how it wants to make the transition as smooth as possible.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Deputy chief digital officer Kori Schulman said in a blog post this week that while all of the accounts will be passed on to the next president, not everything will be as it was.

For example, @POTUS on Twitter will keep all of its 11.1 million followers though the timeline will be emptied. But don’t fret, they won’t be trashing all of Obama’s tweets from the account. Instead, the National Archives and Records Administration will archive each and every post on a new @POTUS44 account to preserve the material for future generations.

“The archive belongs to the American people,” Schulman said.

The same will go for other Twitter handles, including @WhiteHouse, @FLOTUS, @PressSec, and @VP, with all the accounts archived with new “44” usernames. The administration’s other online accounts, such as Instagram, Flickr, YouTube, and Tumblr, will also be updated with the same kind of username.

And the changes won’t just affect the administration’s social media accounts. “Similar to the Clinton and Bush White House websites, President Obama’s WhiteHouse.gov will be preserved on the web and frozen after January 20th and made available at ObamaWhiteHouse.gov.,” Schulman explained, adding that the incoming administration will receive the WhiteHouse.gov domain.

The deputy chief digital officer promised his team will share all of the Obama administration’s social media content in an easily accessible and comprehensive way, and is keen for people to make the most of its availability.

“We’re inviting the American public – from students and data engineers, to artists and researchers – to come up with creative ways to archive this content and make it both useful and available for years to come,” Schulman wrote. “From Twitter bots and art projects to printed books and query tools, we’re open to it all. The White House will make our social media data available early to people who are interested in building something for the public.”

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
I paid Meta to ‘verify’ me — here’s what actually happened
An Instagram profile on an iPhone.

In the fall of 2023 I decided to do a little experiment in the height of the “blue check” hysteria. Twitter had shifted from verifying accounts based (more or less) on merit or importance and instead would let users pay for a blue checkmark. That obviously went (and still goes) badly. Meanwhile, Meta opened its own verification service earlier in the year, called Meta Verified.

Mostly aimed at “creators,” Meta Verified costs $15 a month and helps you “establish your account authenticity and help[s] your community know it’s the real us with a verified badge." It also gives you “proactive account protection” to help fight impersonation by (in part) requiring you to use two-factor authentication. You’ll also get direct account support “from a real person,” and exclusive features like stickers and stars.

Read more
Here’s how to delete your YouTube account on any device
How to delete your YouTube account

Wanting to get out of the YouTube business? If you want to delete your YouTube account, all you need to do is go to your YouTube Studio page, go to the Advanced Settings, and follow the section that will guide you to permanently delete your account. If you need help with these steps, or want to do so on a platform that isn't your computer, you can follow the steps below.

Note that the following steps will delete your YouTube channel, not your associated Google account.

Read more
How to download Instagram photos for free
Instagram app running on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5.

Instagram is amazing, and many of us use it as a record of our lives — uploading the best bits of our trips, adventures, and notable moments. But sometimes you can lose the original files of those moments, leaving the Instagram copy as the only available one . While you may be happy to leave it up there, it's a lot more convenient to have another version of it downloaded onto your phone or computer. While downloading directly from Instagram can be tricky, there are ways around it. Here are a few easy ways to download Instagram photos.

Read more