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Maybe Don't Tweet At President Obama...

by Lauren Barbato

After six years of looking over Michelle's shoulder as she scrolls through her Twitter timeline and being like, "Mo, can you show me that 'on fleek' meme, again?" President Obama was finally given his own Twitter account on Monday. It's verified with that little blue check mark. It has a fabulous cover photo of Obama marching with his family and hundreds of others across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. It's even got the dad jokes going. And if you look a little closer to the Twitter bio, it has a supremely important disclaimer following the requisite "dad" and "U.S. president" descriptors: "Tweets may be archived."

Hm, that's pretty important, don't you think? According to the White House's Online Privacy Policy, all tweets not just sent by a White House account, but also sent to a White House account are automatically archived by the federal government. The White House explains in its policy:

On Twitter, the White House automatically archives “tweets” from official White House accounts, “direct messages” sent to or from official White House accounts, and “mentions” (tweets from other users to official White House accounts; these tweets contain an @ and the username of an official White House account (e.g., @WhiteHouse). The White House also automatically archives any status that official accounts have “favorited.”

The White House privacy policy also makes it clear that any information you share with these White House social media accounts, including Obama's new Twitter account, is public information. "We may, for example, publish compilations of messages or comments collected through WhiteHouse.gov or official social media pages and provide them to national leaders, members of the press, or other individuals outside of the Federal Government," the privacy policy states. So, that cheeky interaction between Obama and former President Bill Clinton about Hillary Clinton's second presidential run? Totally archived. That dirty, dirty tweet you sent to @POTUS for cheap laughs? Also archived.No, really: This declaration of love has been archived by the White House...

As well as this NSFW demand that was probably meant for Christian Grey...

So, so many daddy tweets...

And this guy who thought Obama was talking to inner-city youth in Camden, the London neighborhood, not Camden, the New Jersey city...

These shots being fired against single mothers and other non-married people? Definitely archived for future generations...

And these possible references to Obama's "Choom Gang" days...

But please, if you're going to tweet @POTUS and have your 140 characters archived for eternity, make sure to know what "POTUS" stands for first...

Tweet responsibly, kids.

Image: screenshot/@POTUS Twitter