Biden’s @POTUS Twitter Account To Start From Scratch; Will Lose Trump’s 33M Followers

US President-elect Joe Biden might have a tough time reaching his followers, at least on Twitter. The social media giant has decided to wipe out all followers from the @POTUS and @WhiteHouse accounts once Biden takes charge on January 20. Biden campaign's digital director Rob Flaherty confirmed that the Biden administration's Twitter accounts will be built from scratch rather than transferring existing followers.

Not just that, the accounts for @VP, @FLOTUS, @PressSec, @Cabinet, and @LaCasaBlanca will also have to build a new follower base, Twitter said. In 2017, the Trump administration overtook accounts from the Obama administration. At the time, Twitter duplicated the existing accounts and archived the tweets, and made new accounts for Trump's administration that inherited all those followers without even a single tweet.

"In 2016, the Trump admin absorbed all of President Obama's Twitter followers on @POTUS and @WhiteHouse -- at Team 44's urging," Flaherty tweeted. "In 2020, Twitter has informed us that as of right now the Biden administration will have to start from zero."
Twitter is yet to clarify why it's changing the policy for Biden's administration. According to The Verge, Biden's team isn't happy with the change in Twitter's policy, due to the digital reach they will lose out on.

Besides, anyone who follows any of these handles on Inauguration day will receive a notification saying that the account is being archived and will be presented with an option to follow the Biden administration's new handles.

While the president has many platforms to express his views, Twitter stands out as the most reliable communication tool. If we look at the numbers, these new accounts could have a tough time rebuilding. As of now, @POTUS has 33 million followers, @WhiteHouse has 26 million, @FLOTUS has 16 million, and @PressSec has 6 million.

Donald Trump's @POTUS account will now be named as @POTUS45, but he will still be in control of his @realDonaldTrump account, as per the Journal.