Barack Obama sends first message as he 'returns' to his personal Twitter account

'Is this thing still on? Michelle and I are off on a quick vacation, then we’ll get back to work'

'Hi everybody! Back to the original handle. Is this thing still on?' (Getty Images )

A list of all the changes triggered by the swearing in of a new president would take a long time to compile.

But one, quick, change was the switching over of presidential twitter accounts. As Donald Trump took charge of the @Potus handle, a name that was made available to Barack Obama only two years ago, the outgoing president reclaimed his old handle and quickly started tweeting.

“Hi everybody! Back to the original handle. Is this thing still on? Michelle and I are off on a quick vacation, then we’ll get back to work,” he wrote.

“In the meantime, I want to hear what you're thinking about the road ahead. So share your ideas with me here.”

On Friday morning, his last as president, Mr Obama tweeted a couple of final messages from the official account.

Mr Obama wrote his final tweets from the official presidential handle on Friday morning

“It's been the honour of my life to serve you. You made me a better leader and a better man,” he said.

“I won’t stop; I’ll be right there with you as a citizen, inspired by your voices of truth and justice, good humour, and love.”

He also tweeted a link to the website obama.org, where he and Michelle Obama had recorded a video message about what comes next for them.

“After eight years in the White House, Michelle and I now rejoin all of you as private citizens,” Mr Obama said.

“We want to thank you once again from the bottom of hearts for giving us the incredible privilege of serving this country that we love.”

Michelle Obama continued: “First, we’re going to take a little break. We’re finally going to get some sleep and take some time to be with our family, and just be still for a little bit.”