• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechPresident

Here’s What Will Happen to the POTUS Social Media Accounts Next Year

By
Kia Kokalitcheva
Kia Kokalitcheva
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Kia Kokalitcheva
Kia Kokalitcheva
Down Arrow Button Icon
October 31, 2016, 6:42 PM ET

Ever wondered what happens to the official U.S. presidential social media accounts when the next president takes office?

It’s quite simple, actually. The next president will get to take over the @POTUS account on Twitter and retain all of its followers, for example, but it will be wiped clean of all of President Obama’s tweets, according to a blog post published by the White House.

Obama’s tweets will be republished to @POTUS44 (he’s the 44th president of the United States!), an account that will be maintained by the National Archive and Records Administration (NARA). The same will happen to the official accounts of the First Lady, Vice President, and other administration positions, as well as all the official accounts on other social media services like Instagram and Facebook.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

“President Obama is the first ‘social media president’: the first to have @POTUS on Twitter, the first to go live on Facebook from the Oval Office, the first to answer questions from citizens on YouTube, the first to use a filter on Snapchat,” Kori Schulman, special assistant to the President and Deputy Chief Digital Officer, writes in the blog post outlining the transition.

“The President has made clear that a smooth transition between administrations is one of his top priorities, and digital is a key component of that effort,” she adds.

The White House will also save a “frozen” version of the WhiteHouse.gov website to an address specific to the Obama administration, as it has done with the Clinton and Bush administrations, and all website materials will be archived by the NARA. Same will for the White House’s photos and videos, as well as the We the People website the White House created to let Americans create petitions about important issues.

For more on the U.S. presidential election, watch this Fortune video:

And in the spirit of open source—an important movement the tech industry founded on the idea that openly sharing data and tools can ultimately make them better—the White House is calling for submissions of ideas to archive the administration’s data, whether it’s Twitter bots or art projects.

About the Author
By Kia Kokalitcheva
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
Fortune Secondary Logo
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

OpenAI logo is seen in this photo illustration with the South Korean flag in the background
AIOpenAI
‘Could it kill someone?’ A Seoul woman allegedly used ChatGPT to help carry out two murders in South Korean motels
By Catherina GioinoMarch 2, 2026
7 hours ago
Sam Altman speaking into a mic.
AIOpenAI
OpenAI’s Pentagon deal raises new questions about AI and mass surveillance
By Beatrice NolanMarch 2, 2026
8 hours ago
iran
AIIran
Iran has the intent—and increasingly the tools—for AI-powered cyberattacks
By Sharon GoldmanMarch 2, 2026
9 hours ago
AITech
Anthropic’s Claude overtakes ChatGPT in App Store as users boycott over OpenAI’s $200 million Pentagon contract
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezMarch 2, 2026
10 hours ago
dave ricks
AIScience
Tech giants see a cure for cancer in AI. But Eli Lilly’s CEO finds it ‘not particularly good’ at solving biology or chemistry problems
By Jake AngeloMarch 2, 2026
10 hours ago
Photo of a young man holding a smartphone having his face scanned
LawSocial Media
Social media companies are fighting the ‘age verification trap’ as collecting biometrics on kids violates privacy rights
By Catherina GioinoMarch 2, 2026
12 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Middle East
U.S. military gives Iran a taste of its own medicine with cheap copycat Shahed drones, while concern shifts to munitions supply in extended conflict
By Jason MaMarch 1, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Success
MacKenzie Scott's close relationship with Toni Morrison long before Amazon put Scott on the path to give more than $1 billion to HBCUs
By Sasha RogelbergMarch 1, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
Your grandparents are the reason the U.S. isn't in a recession right now. That won't last forever
By Eleanor PringleMarch 1, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
AI
American schools weren’t broken until Silicon Valley used a lie to convince them they were—now reading and math scores are plummeting
By Sasha RogelbergMarch 1, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Slack cofounder says workers and CEOs can get stuck doing 'fake' work like pre-meetings and slideshows
By Emma BurleighMarch 1, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Health
Gen Z men are eating ‘boy kibble,’ the human equivalent to dog food, to load up on protein cheaply
By Jake AngeloMarch 1, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.