Watch CBS News

Obama Will Pass His Twitter, Facebook, Instagram Accounts To Next President

WASHINGTON (CBS/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 (at)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.

© Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.