Ah, the infamous ‘Twitterverse,” teeming with political potential. Ah, the infamous Donald J. Trump, teeming with 11.6 million followers. That is 11.6 million people who have actively chosen to follow the 140 character-filled tweets of Donald Trump. Throughout the 2016 Presidental Campaign, Trump has proven himself to be a good source of entertainment for one’s Twitter feed as his controversial, 3 a.m. tweets have certainly continued to fuel this fire of his “instability.”
With the emergence of the digital era and the crucial element of social media in this election, it is so longer sufficient to simply analyze the rhetoric of candidates through their speeches, soundbites and quotes from debates. An individual’s chosen rhetoric on a social media can be just as enlightening and interesting as there are newly added rhetorical constraints and opportunities added to the situation (140 character limit, ability to reach millions in seconds, unsuccessful portrayal of tone, etc.)
Below are four of Tweets by Trump regarding his opinions on US / China Trade:
Mr. Confident: In this tweet, Trump’s rhetorical style is direct and confident. He is reaffirming his stance on foreign markets while also inferring to followers that this fact is something he has been saying for quite some time. By ending the tweet with “Get smart U.S.A,” Trump is offering an imaginary challenge: get smart, choose him and beat China OR stay dumb, choose Clinton and lose to China.
Are You Smarter Than a Sixth-Grader: Simple and to the point. In this Tweet, Trump highlights his experience with American buisness and states that “this is a bad deal.” Sixth-grade rhetoric? Sounds about right.
Complex Sentences? Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That: The first two sentences are both five words long. Once again, succinct and to the point – yet, the Trump tone of voice somehow successfully emerges. This Tweet has an underlying threat. For the second time, Trump is urging America to get smart and is warning followers about the dangerous potential of China. In the image, you can see where some of Trump’s followers are directly responding back to his Tweet. While there are more than likely hundreds of thousands of replies (99% of which Trump will never take the time to see), this reveals a new set of rhetorical opportunities: two-way communication. Trump and his campaign team are able to get an inside look at how people are responding to each Tweet.
The Classic Clinton Attack: With this Tweet, Trump succesfully ran an attack ad campaign free of charge. With the inclusion of a statistic, Trump adds ethos to his post instead of appearing to just be acting on an emotional whim. Nevertheless, the spacing issue between the second and third lead me to believe that the Tweet was typed in a rush.
Social media has drastically changed the world in which we live in and the world in which presidental candidates campaign in. It was President Obama’s impressive social media presence and ability to connect with younger voters that may have been the deciding factor for his win in the 2008 election. Overall, social media has the power to extend a candidates rhetoric into a new technological realm of endless possibilities.
It’s never too late to follow them now – @realDonaldTrump and @HillaryClinton
Link to Clinton’s Twitter Page
It is very interesting to me that although Donald Trump utilizes social media, he still is lagging behind Clinton in “young vote.” This may be a result of the fact that many do not take him seriously because they way he uses social media hardly highlights his potential, but rather the opposite and highlights his weaknesses. His tweets are primarily used for defending himself, which in turn results in him throwing insults back to wherever they came from. It is viewed by many as a joke rather than a serious contender. Social media is the primary outlet to reach young voters, but there is a right and wrong way to post and the right way does not include going on a twitter rant about a former Miss Universe and an alleged sex tape. That does not win the young vote, that makes you a meme.
We definitely live in the age of social media. Ideally, presidential campaigns provide voters the opportunity to reflect on the issues that face the country. The best campaigns for our democracy are ones where the candidates offer clear, detailed policy positions. Trump’s rhetoric via social media is straight to the point, which is an effective strategy to share his positions to the electorate. However, I do agree that Trump’s controversial 3 a.m. tweets, are not beneficial to his campaign.