When a new pope is elected to lead the Catholic Church, the decision is signified by a stream of white smoke billowing from the roof of the Sistine Chapel.
But a modern pontiff must make an entrance on social media as well.
The election of Pope Francis I was historic in many ways — as well as taking over from a retired pope and being the first Latin American in the role, the papal leader is the first to inherit a Twitter account.
His arrival was announced with the tweet “HABEMUS PAPAM FRANCISCUM” meaning “We have Pope Francis”.
Click through for his and other famous first tweets.
Pope Francis’ election was announced with a tweet as well as white smoke.
Reitred Pope Benedict’s first tweet was retweeted more than 54,000 times.
Clarence House has been representing the royal family on Twitter since 2010.
When Oprah announced her arrival on Twitter (via her TV show) traffic increased by 43%.
Rupert Murdoch sometimes has trouble wrestling with the keypad when he tweets.
A parody account of his wife Wendi Deng fooled Twitter by earning a verification tick.
Barack Obama joined in 2008 and uses social media in his last election campaigns.
Obama’s post-election tweet with this picture is one of the most re-tweeted of all time.
Hugh Jackman is one of Australia’s favourite tweeters, but he’s only posted just over 300 updates.
Charlie Sheen’s first tweet made him the fastest user to reach one million followers. followers.
Actor and Banjo enthusiast Steve Martin is another favourite of the twitterverse.
Twitter founder Jack Dorsey sent the very first tweet in 2006.
Joker Tom Hanks couldn’t help himself with this opening line.
Even the Dalai Lama is active on Twitter, he joined in 2010.
Justin Bieber’s first update oddly linked to his Myspace account.
Neil Patrick Harris joked about Twitter’s character count when he joined.
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