@POTUS: How the power transition on social media will develop

On Wednesday, Biden and his team will have access to a long list of official government accounts on major social media platforms, including the @POTUS Twitter account. At the touch of a button, the Biden government will inherit a digital megaphone with the potential to make news and shape the public image of the United States government.

The transfer of these official accounts, which include not only those representing Biden and the White House, but almost all branches of government, has emerged as an important aspect of the broader power transition, especially after Twitter has become the favorite online platform President Donald Trump.

“It certainly has great symbolic value,” said David Lazer, a professor of political science and computer science at Northeastern University. “Twitter’s centrality to Trump’s brand and identity has made the moment that much more significant.”

In addition to the @POTUS account, which was created during the Obama administration, Twitter will transfer @WhiteHouse, @VP, @FLOTUS and @PressSec to the new government. Twitter also created a new account, @SecondGentleman, for the husband of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Doug Emhoff.

It is just the second transition between the US presidential administrations for Twitter, launched in 2006. But unlike the transition four years ago, the Biden administration will not inherit the tens of millions of followers on each account. Instead, people on Twitter who previously followed official White House Twitter accounts or who currently follow “relevant” Twitter accounts from Biden or Harris will receive in-app alerts and other notifications about the archiving process and the option to follow new accounts, the company said in a blog post.

The decision sparked criticism from the Biden camp, which said it “unnecessarily politicizes what otherwise should have been a routine transfer of communication from one government to another”. Tuesday night, the @POTUS account had around 33 million followers, while the @FLOTUS and @VP accounts had 16 million and 10 million, respectively.

Twitter approach it contrasts with other social networks, like Snapchat and YouTube, that affirm that the Biden government will keep the current followers in the respective accounts of the White House.

Facebook and its subsidiary Instagram will transfer accounts on both platforms, such as the Facebook POTUS and FLOTUS pages and the White House Instagram account, to Biden’s team. These platforms will also duplicate the followers of Joe Biden’s Facebook page and Instagram account for the official POTUS page and account.

Although Biden’s team may not inherit all Twitter followers will not be entirely from scratch. Biden @ Transition46 account at Twitter will become @WhiteHouse, the @PresElectBiden account will become @POTUS, @SenKamalaHarris will become @VP, @FLOTUSBiden will become @FLOTUS and @PressSecPsaki will become @PressSec.

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