--- title: Obama Joins Twitter as @POTUS: Here Are the Best Responses description: The President now has his very own handle, @POTUS canonical: https://time.com/3883285/barack-obama-joins-twitter/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-18T21:59:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T07:25:57.425Z article:section: Politics og:title: Here Are the Best Responses to Obama Joining Twitter og:description: The President now has his very own handle, @POTUS og:url: https://time.com/3883285/barack-obama-joins-twitter/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here Are the Best Responses to Obama Joining Twitter twitter:description: The President now has his very own handle, @POTUS twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Here Are the Best Responses to Obama Joining Twitter by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley May 18, 2015 9:59 PM UTC by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley May 18, 2015 9:59 PM UTC President Barack Obama tweeted from [his personal Twitter account](https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/600324682190053376) first the first time on Monday. > [](https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/600324682190053376) It took just a few hours after the tweet went up at 11:38 a.m. ET for @POTUS to rack up more than 1 million followers, appearing to [handily beat](http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/fastest-time-to-reach-1-million-followers-on-twitter) the current Guinness World Record for the fastest time to hit that milestone (it took Robert Downey Jr. 23 hours and 22 minutes in April 2014). A video posted by the White House gave what seemed to be proof that it was actually Obama typing on a smartphone and not a staffer: > [](https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/600387003503415296) The Chicago Cubs appeared slightly offended that Obama, a noted White Sox fan, followed the Sox, Blackhawks, Bulls and Bears, but not their team. > [](https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/600339937062297600) Michelle seemed pretty excited: > [](https://twitter.com/FLOTUS/status/600345440647778305) Joe Biden was pleased: > [](https://twitter.com/VP/status/600331188847251456) And Valerie Jarrett, Obama’s senior advisor, was glad he signed up: > [](https://twitter.com/vj44/status/600333148648566785) But it was perhaps No. 42 who had the greatest reaction—and a good question (#askingforafriend, of course): > [](https://twitter.com/billclinton/status/600389785769881600) Despite a busy schedule—[he tweeted from Camden, New Jersey](https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/600388258665787392)—Obama responded promptly, and with a good question in response: > [](https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/600407380279566336) _Read next:_ [_You Asked: Why Are My Devices Messing With My Brain?_](http://time.com/3855911/phone-addiction-digital-distraction/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3883285/barack-obama-joins-twitter/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3883285/barack-obama-joins-twitter/"},"headline":"Here Are the Best Responses to Obama Joining Twitter","datePublished":"2015-05-18T21:59:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T07:25:57.425Z","description":"The President now has his very own handle, @POTUS","url":"https://time.com/3883285/barack-obama-joins-twitter/","keywords":["White House","Barack Obama","twitter","Bill Clinton","Chicago Cubs"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3883285/barack-obama-joins-twitter/","name":"Here Are the Best Responses to Obama Joining Twitter"}}]}] ```