TWITTER: New Policy for Government Officals and Political Candidates with more than 100K followers; social media and politics/presidency

“In a study done at New York University in 2015, an analysis and comparison of the Twitter accounts of Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Bernie Sanders, and Hillary Clinton, found observations showing the goals of each candidate’s Twitter during their respective primary elections. Some comparisons that were made were the use of Aristotle’s theory of Rhetoric. The research found that Donald Trump used pathos, the appeal to emotion, in his rhetoric; Bernie Sanders tended to use ethos and logos for his Twitter; Hillary Clinton tended to use logos and pathos to try to convey her values, and Jeb Bush shows that he uses a mix of all three on his account. The study also looked at the media response to the tweets during the election. The study found that the tweets became more persuasive for the candidates if the media put the tweets in front of more viewers, versus less powerful if they were only visible to those already on Twitter. In that way, presidential candidates who had their tweets covered more in the news were able to get their message to more potential voters.” Wikipedia

In response to reports that Twitter announced it would begin labeling and possibly flagging tweets from national political figures, PEN America issued this statement:

“Twitter’s newly announced policy appears to strike a careful balance in responding to the dual imperative of enforcing the platform’s own policies about abusive behavior while also protecting the public’s right to access the unfiltered views of political figures and government officials. Of course the test will be in the implementation, and in ensuring that the policy does not excessively encumber access to information for constituents and other users; the plan to use this tool sparingly appears to be a good one,” said Summer Lopez, Senior Director of Free Expression Programs, PEN America.

“Social media provides unique and important opportunities for direct engagement between political leaders and the public, which should be protected.  That said, words can have consequences and the words of political leaders can be especially piercing and potent.  If this policy inspires a more considered approach by political leaders to their tweets, that may be a good thing.”

If you are viewing this post from an email subscription, you’ll likely have to link through to the site to view this Washington Post video, “How social media is changing the presidency.”

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