First Lady Michelle Obama has joined Twitter again. It’s not that she wasn’t on it before, but this time, her office has created an account specifically for her position as First Lady of the United States, also known as “FLOTUS”. The creation of the new profile coincides with Mrs. Obama’s 49th birthday and will most likely be filled with the same tweet style like the President. Anything coming specifically from the First Lady will be signed “-mo”.
While some might think that it’s “yet another Twitter handle” story, the reality is that in the age of social media, politicians are looking for new ways to reach out to constituents. Traditionally, the First Lady has an agenda that they would like to see accomplished during her husband’s term in office — when Hillary Clinton was in office, it was universal health care; Laura Bush focused on education; and with Mrs. Obama, she’s focused on reducing childhood obesity with her Let’s Move! initiative.
Mrs. Obama’s efforts not only have helped give her a platform that she can use to promote her agenda, but sets a foundation from which future First Ladies can build upon to continue to use to discuss issues with the American public. In addition, in an age where any communication by politicians can be reviewed (since they’re public figures) and dealing with election laws, for Mrs. Obama to set up the @FLOTUS account is a good way to separate when she’s talking about her official duties or political campaign issues.
The creation of the First Lady’s account follows other high-ranking politicians who have two different alias, such as Vice President Joe Biden who has one set up for campaigns and another for the Office of the Vice President. It’s interesting to note that President Obama doesn’t have separate Twitter accounts — he still uses @BarackObama for both campaigning and for tweets from the White House. And yes, even the presidential mansion has a Twitter account.
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The First Lady’s first tweet went live earlier today and to date her account has more than 32,000 followers. Her other account has more than 2.6 million followers.
The @flotus Office is now on @twitter & will post updates & pics. When it’s her, she’ll sign -mo. PS: RT to wish Mrs. Obama a #HappyBirthday
— FLOTUS (@FLOTUS) January 17, 2013
Photo credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images
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