On Wednesday, some Meta social media users reported that their accounts re-followed the profiles of President , Vice President JD Vance, and First Lady Melania Trump after unfollowing them when Trump began his second term.
Following a change in presidential administration, official White House social media accounts transition to the newly elected officials. This occurred in 2017 and 2021 as Trump succeeded Barack Obama and later when Joe Biden took over from Trump.
Despite attempts to unfollow the president, vice president, and first lady accounts since Monday, users found themselves automatically following them again, sometimes after repeated actions or blocking attempts.
For instance, Facebook user Anna Springer shared on Threads, a platform owned by Meta, "I, like others, repeatedly unfollowed Trump and Vance on Monday, only to discover that I was following them again. Not sure if it was just a glitch or something intentional, but it definitely happened."
Meta did not provide an immediate response. However, Meta communications director Andy Stone explained on X that followers of the Biden administration's official accounts were seamlessly transferred to the corresponding official accounts under the Trump administration.
Stone clarified, "People were not made to automatically follow any of the official Facebook or Instagram accounts for the President, Vice President, or First Lady, as these accounts are managed by the White House, and their content changes with a new administration." He further noted on Threads, "It may take some time for follow and unfollow requests to go through as these accounts change hands."
The White House did not initially offer a statement.
American singer Demi Lovato shared on her Instagram story a photo of accidentally following the vice president. "I have unfollowed this guy twice today," she wrote to her 150 million followers.
Additional users found themselves following First Lady Melania Trump without actively choosing to do so. Actor and comedian Sarah Colonna questioned on Threads, "Why did my Facebook automatically start following Melania Trump this morning? What are you doing?" Colonna tagged Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, in her post.
Social media users typically follow others to view their posts, often by a simple click. The larger an account's following, the wider the audience reached by their messages.