Twitter apologizes for error after many are re-subscribed to ‘@POTUS’

Attendance numbers weren’t the only thing to cause an uproar after President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Twitter apologized, admitting it made a mistake when it forced users to follow the new @POTUS account in the wake of last week’s presidential transition.

Some users expressed outrage when, after unfollowing the account, they realized that Twitter had automatically re-followed it for them.

Here are a few reactions:

WTF? I never followed @POTUS. I specifically followed @POTUS44 after Obama left office. And now Twitter decided I must follow Trump @POTUS

— Keith Calder (@keithcalder) January 21, 2017

Just saw @twitter had me following Trump and new POTUS. What's uo with that @jack? I didnt ask for it and Im not the only one. @support

— Margaret Cho (@margaretcho) January 21, 2017

Yes. Dear @Twitter, Please never automatically follow anyone or any account for me. Your pal, JA https://t.co/0wlNHoAfss

— Julie Ann Emery (@julieannemery) January 21, 2017

Wow. Twitter made me follow @potus @flotus & @vp again after I unfollowed yesterday. Happened also to my wife; see reports from others. WTF.

— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) January 21, 2017

You're on notice @Twitter:
Please do not force me to follow anyone. Period. Full Stop.

— Chely Wright (@chelywright) January 21, 2017

[RELATED: The 2017 Social Media Conference for PR, Marketing and Corporate Communicators at Disney World.]

Twitter’s chief executive, Jack Dorsey, addressed the issue and explained what happened:

All: we investigated what happened here, and we made some mistakes (which have been corrected). Some context first. https://t.co/W1n3Xs6LaN

— jack (@jack) January 21, 2017

1. People who followed @POTUS44 (Obama Admin) after 12pET were mistakenly set to also follow @POTUS (Trump Admin).

— jack (@jack) January 21, 2017

We believe this affected about 560,000 people. This was a mistake, it wasn't right, we own it, and we apologize. No excuses.

— jack (@jack) January 21, 2017

More than half a million users experienced the problem, and now the account has surpassed 14 million followers.

Despite his ownership of the official @POTUS account, Trump has continued to tweet from his personal @realDonaldTrump account.

How do you think Twitter handled its misstep?

(Image via)

from PR Daily News Feed http://ift.tt/2jRwWfU