The NY Post reports: Former President Barack Obama — who boasts more Twitter followers than any former or current head of state — lost more than 2 million of them this week as the social media site launched a purge of bogus accounts, according to new reports.
Obama’s @BarackObama handle had more than 103 million followers Wednesday, but that had dropped to about 101 million by Friday morning.
He remains the third-most-followed person on the site, behind singers Katy Perry and Justin Bieber, according to the Daily Beast.
Perry, who had 110 million followers, now has 107 million, USA Today reported.
President Trump took a hit on his account as well.
His @realDonaldTrump account had lost around 320,000 followers, dipping from 53.4 million to 53.1 million, according to Politico.
His official presidential account, @POTUS, saw a drop of about 60,000 followers.
In a Wednesday announcement, Twitter said it would begin deleting accounts that had been locked on suspicion of being hacked or used for spam, according to the Daily Beast.
Although those accounts were already unable to post to the site, once they’re deleted, they will no longer show up as followers on other users’ accounts. Read more at the NY Post.
{Matzav.com}
