Obama to hand over social media accounts to new president

In this Oct. 28, 2016, photo, President Barack Obama speaks during a campaign event for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in Orlando, Fla. The latest clamor over Clinton’s emails has put Obama in a spot where no president wants to be: caught between his attorney general, his FBI director and his preferred White House successor. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON (AP) — What happens to President Barack Obama’s 11.1 million Twitter followers on Inauguration Day?

The White House says Obama’s official @POTUS account will be taken over by the next president, who will start with a huge following but a clean slate of tweets. Obama’s tweets will move over to a new handle, @POTUS44, by the National Archives and Records Administration.

The same will take place with Obama’s Facebook and Instagram accounts, along with other Twitter accounts including Michelle Obama’s @FLOTUS and Joe Biden’s @VP accounts.

The White House says thousands of hours of video and millions of photos are being transferred to digital archives. Eventually, they’ll be available to download in compact form like zip files.

Obama is leaving office with far more digital content to archive than any previous president.



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