@thelede confirms @JMBergoglio as the personal account of our new #Pope Francis I. He also apparently has a #Facebook
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NayNay the Divine (@zanyzaneta) March 13, 2013We last wrote about New York Times reporter Robert Mackey when he used a progressive blog as a source for his smear job on Steven Crowder. On Wednesday, he reported at The Lede that Pope Francis has a Twitter account.
Update: The New Pope's Twitter Feed nyti.ms/13TwqQh #pope—
NYTimes Lede Blog (@thelede) March 13, 2013
NBC Washington and Boston.com also reported on the account:
New Pope hasn't tweeted as @pontifex yet, but he's getting congratulations from around the world: bit.ly/Znhe8H—
NBCWashington (@nbcwashington) March 13, 2013
The @JMBergoglio account quickly attracted more than 100,000 followers.
He had 785 followers when he tweeted this. Announcing he's the Pope. RT @JMBergoglio
Inmensamente feliz de ser el nuevo Papa, Francisco I—
Justin Wolfers (@justinwolfers) March 13, 2013
Jorge Bergoglio 1st tweet as pope Francis 1st. A man of our digital age. He also is on Facebook account @JMBergoglio http://t.co/NTQXj1pxkJ—
Franck Perrier (@franckperrier) March 13, 2013
But oops! It was a fake.
This is a fake account run by some sick person, not genuine —> @jmbergoglio—
David Freddoso (@freddoso) March 13, 2013
I don't think @JMBergoglio is real, unless cardinals tweet things like "If I'm the new pope, children will love me more than Santa Claus"—
(@DavidKenner) March 13, 2013
.@JMBergoglio is NOT the new pope's Twitter account. It looks like a long-standing parody. Scroll through back tweets.—
Caitlin Dewey (@caitlindewey) March 13, 2013
Twitter dropped the ban hammer on the fake @JMBergoglio account and corrections were issued.
Twitter has now suspend the fake account @JMBergoglio of Pope Francis. http://t.co/tLavyxuez6—
Nicholas Augusta (@naugusta) March 13, 2013
Apologies, we've corrected earlier @thelede update: @Pontifex is active again but Cardinal's personal Twitter account is reportedly a hoax.—
Robert Mackey (@RobertMackey) March 13, 2013
Correction: We're now hearing that this account is a fake: bit.ly/Znhe8H—
NBCWashington (@nbcwashington) March 13, 2013
CORRECTION: @JMBergoglio is not the account of Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Our apologies.—
Boston.com News (@BostonDotCom) March 13, 2013
Those media outlets had plenty of company.
Tina Brown is following the fake Twitter account of the new pope: twitter.com/JMBergoglio/fo…—
Andrew Kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) March 13, 2013
Update: Sorry folks, @JMBergoglio is a fake account—
Anthony De Rosa (@AntDeRosa) March 13, 2013
Twitter employee -> RT @bcoyne: correction: @JMBergoglio may not be the correct account. sorry all. #notnewpope—
Alex Fitzpatrick (@AlexJamesFitz) March 13, 2013
correction: @JMBergoglio may not be the correct account. sorry all. #notnewpope—
Bridget Coyne (@bcoyne) March 13, 2013
Correction: “@lheron: Mea culpa, everyone. @JMBergoglio is not the #newpope's Twitter account. Please disregard.”—
Kimberly Wyatt (@tv_leader) March 13, 2013
MT @mashable Correction @jmbergoglio Is not the new Pope's twitter account, it's @Pontifex—
J. Paul Getty Museum (@GettyMuseum) March 13, 2013