Michelle Obama opens new Twitter account

Washington - Michelle Obama's office said on Thursday it had opened a Twitter account, as the US first lady turned 49.

The account is @FLOTUS, the acronym for First Lady of the United States, and it will be administered by the first lady's staff.

Tweets penned by the first lady herself will bear her initials - mo.

As of midday on Thursday, the account had just over 16 000 followers. That compares to 2.64 million for @MichelleObama, which opened in January 2012 and was run by President Barack Obama's re-election campaign team.

Tweets from the @MichelleObama account have been infrequent since her husband won the election on 6 November.

The first utterance on Thursday from @FLOTUS urged followers to wish Mrs Obama a happy birthday.

The @flotus Office is now on @twitter & will post updates & pics. When it's her, she'll sign -mo. PS: RT to wish Mrs. Obama a #HappyBirthday

— FLOTUS (@FLOTUS) January 17, 2013