Obama Joins Twitter as @POTUS – Hits 1 Million Followers In 5 Hours

The Tweeter-in-Chief has landed.

On Monday, President Barack Obama became the first President to join the social networking sit and according to White House sources, the account is strictly for the President himself and will feature only his personal tweets, compared to the White House’s separate account.

President Obama officially joined Twitter on Monday and amassed over one million followers in only five hours, which means he broke a Guinness World Record.  He is now tweeting from his very own Twitter account @POTUS.  In fact, the @POTUS account hit 100,000 followers within 30 minutes of its launch. “Hello, Twitter! It’s Barack. Really! Six years in, they’re finally giving me my own account,” said the President in his first ever tweet from the Oval Office.

The wallpaper currently being used for his @POTUS account features an Obama family photo from an event celebrating the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s walk in Selma, Alabama.  And under the description section of his Twitter profile it says “Dad, husband, and 44th President of the United States.”  President of the United States – no big deal!

The White House administration said that the President wanted his @POTUS account as a way to directly engage with the American people. He’s “committed to making his administration the most open and participatory in history, and @POTUS will give Americans a new venue to engage on the issues that matter most to them,” said the White House.

By late Monday afternoon, the President had nearly 1 million followers already, and his two tweets had acquired an impressive 160,000-plus retweets.

Being known for his loquacious, grandiose speaking style – will @POTUS be able to handle the 140 character limit? Share with us your thoughts and comments!