so, it's official. after years of signing "-bo" at the end of @barackobama t o signal the tweets he crafted himself from an account operated by the organizing for action staff, the president now has his very own handle @potus , tweeting for the first time:









"hello, twitter! it's barack. really! six years in, they're finally giving me my own account."









and some asking the question on a lot of people's minds, what happens to the handle when a new president takes office?









according to a white house official, @potus handle will transfer to the next president when obama leaves office on 2017. president bill clinton even had some fun with the news, tweeting: welcome to @twitter, @potus! one question: does that username stay with the office? #askingforafriend









for his banner photo, the president chose a powerful image from the 50th anniversary of the selma to montgomery marches, where he, first lady and congressman john lewis (d-georgia) led a commemorative march, hand in hand, over the selma bridge. per a statement from t he white house , the @potus handle "will serve as a new way for president obama to engage directly with the american people, with tweets coming exclusively from him." naturally, folks on social are having a little fun with this new presidential social presence: <u+2014> the first lady (@flotus) may 18, 2015 the bear is loose on the twittersphere! welcome to the interwebs, mr. president. https://t.co/srlabk3rfk <u+2014> valerie jarrett (@vj44) may 18, 2015 .@potus joined twitter just in time to live tweet the bachelorette premiere tonight. <u+2014> erin ruberry (@erinruberry) may 18, 2015 i'm going to enjoy the brief 10 minute period where i have more twitter followers than @potus. pic.twitter.com/w28rplgy09 <u+2014> byron tau (@byrontau) may 18, 2015 and connecticut sen. chris murphy tweeting a gif of the president with a selfie stick: welcome to twitter @potus! looking forward to lots of presidential selfies pic.twitter.com/jjwnkwx14h <u+2014> chris murphy (@chrismurphyct) may 18, 2015 in the meantime, we'll just wait for your first gifs and selfies, mr. president.
@potus joins twitter, jokes with @billclinton
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