Obama on social media: You’ve got to ‘think before you tweet’

Former President Obama offered advice on how to use social media on Friday, saying users should think before they post on platforms like Twitter. 

“Michelle was giving the general idea … that don’t say the first thing that pops in your head. Have a little bit of an edit function … think before you speak, think before you tweet,” the former president said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi. 

{mosads}Obama was elaborating on comments made earlier in the week by former first lady Michelle Obama in which she offered her own advice on using Twitter. 

The former first lady appeared to take a jab at President Trump’s Twitter habits when she said it was “never a good idea” to broadcast your first thoughts in the morning on social media. 

Trump often tweets from his personal Twitter account in the early hours of the morning. 

Michelle Obama addressed social media usage earlier this month when she addressed the Obama Foundation Summit in Chicago.

“You don’t tweet every thought,” she said, adding “And I’m not talking about anybody in particular. I’m talking about us all, because everybody does that.”

Former President Obama also joked that his daughters serve as his own personal focus group on best practices for using Twitter.

“I have an excellent focus group in my daughters since they are the generation who are on their phones, and whenever there is a new app, they have to explain it to me,” he said. “So I am able to watch and keep up in how it is being used and absorbed.”