WASHINGTON (AFP) - Hillary Clinton made a lighthearted Twitter debut on Monday, poking fun at her own image and fueling speculation about what the future holds for the former secretary of state.

The @HillaryClinton account was verified by Twitter within hours of coming online, and the potential future presidential candidate quickly gained more than 100,000 followers.

But, like much of what she has done in recent months, Mrs Clinton's profile summary tantalisingly left open her future plans. The brief profile with which Twitter users introduce themselves noted Mrs Clinton's former roles, as wife of former state governor and president Bill Clinton, as First Lady of Arkansas and of the United States.

But she also had fun with her public image, dubbing herself a "hair icon, pantsuit aficionado, glass ceiling cracker" and ending with a wink at her presumed presidential ambitions: "TBD" - to be determined.

Poll after poll shows Clinton as the top Democratic frontrunner in the 2016 presidential election should she decide to run, but she has refused to divulge her plans.

A few hours after the account went online, Clinton had posted a single tweet, expressing gratitude to Adam Smith and Stacy Lambe, the pranksters responsible for a popular satirical website "Texts from Hillary".

"Thanks for the inspiration @ASmith83 & @Sllambe - I'll take it from here," she wrote.