Dominique Strauss-Kahn joins Twitter to announce his comeback, tells the world 'Jack is back'

Within a matter of hours, @dstrausskahn has accumulated 21,000 followers.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn: ‘Jack is back’ (AFP/Getty)

The former IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn has made an enigmatic appearance on social media with the tweeted message “Jack is back”.

The creation of an account in Mr Strauss-Kahn’s name - confirmed as genuine by Twitter – caused a storm of curiosity, amusment and fury in the French-language twittosphere today.

Within a matter of hours, @dstrausskahn has accumulated 21,000 followers.

Ten days after his adquittal of pimping charges in Lille in northern France, bringing to a close four years of disgrace and three unsuccessful prosecutions for sexual misconduct, the former French presidential front-runner plainly intended to signal the beginning of a new phase in his life and career.

Was he planning a political come-back, French internauts asked. At the age of 66, this was deemed to be highly unlikely.

What did he mean by calling himself, Jack?

Most commentators thought that this was a reference to Jack Bauer, the fictional hero of the American TV series “24” who emerges intact from endless scrapes.

However, one anonymous contributor to the Le Monde website pointed out that “jack” had a particular meaning in the Urban Dictionary, an on-line compilation of streetwise slang. “ JACK=Highly Attractive and Sexually Intriguing Individual. An Ultimate Sex God.”

Many French commentators suggested that DSK’s decision to launch himself into social media so soon after his acquittal was arrogant or unpleasant – and should be ignored.

Another contributor to the Le Monde site wrote: “I ate noodles for dinner tonight. Please publish the information.”

The first DSK tweet took the form of an image of a handwritten message which read, in English, “Hello Twitter! Jack is Back”.

DSK lists only five accounts that he follows, the economists Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Krugman, The Economist and Financial Times news sites and his new romantic partner, Myriam L’Aouffir.