If you are finding yourself furious after finding out that you are following President Donald J. Trump on Facebook, Instagram, X, and more — you are not alone as many users globally have been asking the same question from social media companies. There is now confusion on the political side of social media as many users are dumbfounded if they are following these personalities, especially if they did not do so in their recollection.
The question now is if Meta and others have made users automatically follow the new personalities occupying the United States' highest seats of power, particularly for those who are not exactly fans of these politicians.
Am I Following Trump's Accounts Automatically? Here's The Explanation
Many users were surprised to see that they were following President Donald J. Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, First Lady Melania Trump, and other politicians, but never doing so previously. However, it is only a simple case of confusion among social media platforms in the present, and according to LifeHacker, this happened during the change to the new administration's people in power.
First off, if you have already been following former President of the United States Joe Biden's official account, then the change to Trump still retains the following on Meta's Facebook and Instagram, as these are only placeholders for whoever is in power.
Official POTUS, VPOTUS, and First Lady accounts are managed by the White House, and those who won the elections essentially use the same account with Meta allowing the name change that is reflecting the current administration.
Political Social Media Confusion Amidst Latest Inauguration
This was also confirmed by Meta's communications spokesperson, Andy Stone, who recently acknowledged the confusion via a Threads post, saying that these changes when there are new occupants of the accounts. These accounts are the official social media accounts of the White House for the current people in charge and not their ones, with the Trumps and Vance's accounts reflecting a "January 2025" date joined as they were only inaugurated last January 20.
The Political Side of Social Media Platforms
Social media has proven itself to be one of the most effective highways for information and updates, and this includes the latest in the political landscape of a country, including the United States. For X, this is already a matter that has sparked massive debates, particularly as the platform is privately owned by Elon Musk, and during the campaign season, he hosted a Spaces interview which delivered an unfiltered discussion with Trump.
On the other hand, the largest social media company in the world, Meta, is known for its massive policy change during the elections which featured less political content on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads among users. That being said, Meta recently effected a change on its platforms where it foregoes third-party content moderation in favor of an in-house 'Community Notes' experience for all.
While other platforms like Reddit, Bluesky, and more are unaffected in terms of still featuring open conversations about the public's opinions and having content moderation teams in place, their experiences are unlike what X and Meta offer. The public is now questioning the two big social media companies if they are responsible for the "automatic" follow, but it is simply a case of miscommunication when the POTUS, Vice President, First Lady, and more accounts changed with the new administration.
