Now, at this point into Trump's presidency, most Americans are familiar with the President's use of the social media platform, Twitter. However, many American voters are appalled by many of his tweets concerning sensitive topics in our nation at the moment. Trump's erratic use of Twitter begs the question as to what a President's role should be on social media, in addition to, has Trump overused and/or misused his favorite platform?
Even before his presidential bid, Donald Trump had been using Twitter as a constant stream of his consciousness, without a care in the world. Now, as the leader of the free world, Trump still uses his social media as if he were still just a reality star, resulting in many thoughtless and often offensive posts. Perhaps someone should confiscate his phone, turn over his Twitter password to a staffer, or just stop using Twitter altogether, since his tweets are just fuel to fan the fire of war between Trump and the American press. Trump has tweeted about topics such as healthcare, gun reform, the press, and even late night talk shows. In a segment on the Late Night talk show with Seth Meyers, a clip is shown where White House Spokeswoman, Sarah Huckabee, accidentally gives Trump a new nickname...
It seems that President Chirp's...oops, I meant Trump's presence on Twitter is becoming more and more frustrating to voters. In June of 2017, Politico published an article which highlights how both Democrats and Republicans are sick of Trump's use of Twitter, and find his tweets to have no other purpose other than to stir up controversy after controversy. Trump's response, included in Politico's article, highlighted an important point: his opposers "hate that [he] can get the honest and unfiltered message out." Yes, Twitter is perfect if Donald Trump is looking for honest and unfiltered, but is Twitter really a means of communication for a president to be making statements about race, gender, sexuality, gun control and other serious issues our country faces every day?
In my opinion, the President of the United States should not use Twitter to insult, degrade and "speak the truth" when that truth isn't even accurate. It's unprofessional, it's embarrassing to the country and it is aggravating, to say the least. As technology and social media continue to take over how Americans consume news, it is expected that our government utilizes websites such as Twitter. An American President tweeting is nothing new; both Donald Trump and Barack Obama relied heavily on social media to build their presidential campaigns and to build direct relationships with their supporters. However, President Obama is just blatantly better at twitter than Donald Trump. Obama tweeted strictly about presidential and humanitarian business with of course the help from his advisors. Almost every tweet posted by Obama was vetted or written by a staffer, whereas Donald Trump writes EVERY SINGLE TWEET he posts with not a single human being to give it a once-over.
Overall, Donald Trump's Twitter is out of control and does not exemplify how a President should conduct themselves. However, Trump seems proud of his efforts on Twitter and there isn't much influence that he will be reigned in anytime soon.
