Barack Obama joins Twitter: President finally gets his own social media account

The world’s most powerful man Barack Obama has joined Twitter.

Describing himself as a “Dad, husband, and 44th President of the United States” within 20 minutes he had attracted over 100,000 followers.

Posting his first tweet Mr Obama, 53, wrote: “Hello, Twitter! It's Barack. Really! Six years in, they're finally giving me my own account."

His picture is a photo from the 50th anniversary of the voting rights march in Selma, Alabama.

Former White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer hailed the account as a major shift in presidential communications.

He wrote: “This is a much bigger deal than it may seem. Changing how President's will communicate for the foreseeable future.”

The father-of-two joins wife and First Lady Michelle and Vice President Joe Biden on the social media platform, both of whom have had accounts since 2011.

The creation of this page, which has already been verified with a blue tick, is the latest account to be linked to the president.
There are a number in his name but run by political group Organising for Action and a separate account for the White House.

The first account he followed was The White House followed by his wife.

The handle of the new account is @POTUS - which stands for President of the United States, which presumably means the account will be passed on to whoever succeeds him after next year's presidential election.

As well as his wife, Mr Obama followed Vice President Joe Biden, members of his cabinet, and former presidents.

But he was also quick to follow his favourite sports teams - with the Chicago Bulls (basketball), White Sox (baseball), Bears (American Football) and Hawks (Ice Hockey) among his first friends.

Michelle Obama already has her own Twitter handle: @FLOTUS, which stands for First Lady of the United States.

Mr Obama has had a Twitter presence since 2007, but the account @BarackObama has always been run by his campaign team.

Interestingly, the tweet was posted from an Apple iPhone.

The President has previously bemoaned the fact that, for security reasons, he wasn't allowed to have an iPhone.

Security around the president's communications is extremely strict - he reportedly had to argue to be allowed a BlackBerry when he became president in 2009.