Joe Biden launches new Twitter account. Meet @PresElectBiden
New account emerges after it was revealed Biden might not retain all the followers on the official @POTUS account.
President-elect Joe Biden has a new Twitter account.
President-elect Joe Biden has launched a new account on Twitter for those interested in keeping tabs on what the incoming president has on his mind. You can follow the new account at @PresElectBiden.
It wasn't immediately clear when Biden created the new verified account, although as of this writing it had a little more than 7,000 followers, suggesting it hadn't been live for long.
His first tweet appeared at 7:15 p.m. PT, introducing the account.
"Folks -- This will be the account for my official duties as President," Biden wrote. "At 12:01 PM on January 20th, it will become @POTUS. Until then, I'll be using @JoeBiden."
Folks — This will be the account for my official duties as President. At 12:01 PM on January 20th, it will become @POTUS. Until then, I'll be using @JoeBiden. And while you're here, follow @FLOTUSBiden @SenKamalaHarris @SecondGentleman and @Transition46.
— President-elect Biden (@PresElectBiden) January 15, 2021
The Biden campaign didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The official presidential account @POTUS, which Biden will inherit on Jan. 20, currently has 33 million followers. But that number is likely to change as Biden won't automatically inherit the followers of the previous administration when he officially takes control of the account on Inauguration Day.
Twitter said last month that the account won't automatically retain its existing followers. Instead, Twitter will give the account followers the option to follow accounts under the Biden administration.
Social media helps people, including the president, instantly disseminate a message to a large number of people online. Twitter's decision to not automatically transfer followers could limit the number of people the upcoming administration will be able to reach on the web. Biden's team isn't happy with Twitter's choice.
Rob Flaherty, the digital director for Biden's presidential campaign, said in a tweet in December that Twitter told Biden's transition team that "as of right now the Biden administration will have to start from zero" when the @POTUS and @WhiteHouse accounts are transferred.
Twitter will also transfer the @WhiteHouse, @VP, @FLOTUS, @PressSec, @Cabinet, and @LaCasaBlanca to the Biden administration on Inauguration Day. The company is creating a new account, @SecondGentleman, for Douglas Emhoff, the husband of Kamala Harris, the first woman ever to be elected US vice president.
Before the transfer happens, Twitter has to archive the accounts used by the Trump administration. The account @POTUS will be archived as @POTUS45.
CNET's Queenie Wong contributed to this report.