President Donald Trump's online presence, posted primarily through his Twitter profile, reflects his personal, unfiltered opinions towards various national and international matters. It is because of this account that the general American public can come to know what is truly crossing the President's mind, without censorship or exploitation of press.
The opinions of the youth of America reflect the future of our country, so I asked 20 individuals of my generation what they think of the President and his social media usage. Here's what they thought:
1. "President Trump has a very bombastic and outspoken voice in the media. He pulls attention to himself through his vapid use of Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms. My personal opinion regarding his use of social media is that he is utilizing it in a productive manner, but is forming a too informal relationship with the American democracy and exerting forces of propaganda that can be viewed in a negative and hateful light. Overall I think he should be more explicit and selective of his rhetoric in which he uses on social media." Nina, 18.
2. "Trump's behavior on social media is practically an abuse of the internet. His job is to bring the country together, but he's only dividing it and showing his dark side when he expresses his harsh views on foreign policy and other respective politicians." Darrell, 18.
3. "I think all of that nonsense is ridiculous. You're in a position of political power and authority. Especially as a president, you are filled with many other obligations and responsibilities, how do you have time to go online to use garbage like that? Not just Trump. Anyone in a level of authority should be taking care of those." Karolina, 20.
4. "President Trump's social media presence is more prominent than that of any president before. His unusual attachment to social media was first revealed when he refused to give up his personal twitter account in order to tweet from the official POTUS account. Whether your politics align with President Trump's or not, in my interactions with people, most people believe that his presence on social media is more of a distraction than a helpful aid. President Trump has received criticism for his twitter rants, his early morning tweets, and his controversial retweets. I believe this criticism is well deserved. An American president should play no role in censoring or discrediting the media or in defending himself from critics through acts of belittlement or insults." Ben, 18.
5. "I believe Trump's social media presence is insincere and diminishing to one group or another. In my opinion, if he isn't insulting or reprimanding a certain group or individual, he is delivering an insincere speech that Americans should be able to see is not spoken from his heart." Emily, 18.
6 ."Nasty." Daniel, 18.
7. "It doesn't bother me about his social media presence, he has a right to tweet and use social media and in my opinion Trump supporters like seeing him present on Twitter because it appeals to a younger audience of conservatives." Katie, 18.
8. "It's an absolutely brilliant way for him to communicate directly with the general population without his words being skewed at a press briefing or by the media." Eoan, 18.
9. "Trump is smart to use social media because no one is going to tune into C-SPAN to hear what he has to say about other politicians but everyone has a Twitter, and it's easy to see what he has to say; however, he's using it to try to make other politicians pledge fealty and it's ineffective because his approval rating is not good enough to diminish incumbents' influence upon their constituents. He's more likely to divide the party than uniting it under the Trump banner." Glenn, 18.
10. "I think he should ease up on the frequent tweeting, it's not professional." Ashish, 18.
11. "I don't think the President should be tweeting or using any form of personal social media - unprofessional in my opinion. All correspondence should be official and through the White House in my opinion." Natalia, 20.
12. "I don't think it's appropriate for him to be on social media so much. Most presidents and important political figures do not have the time or energy to run their own social media accounts, they have teams of people doing them. This leads to positive comments being put on social media platforms and also presenting those political figures in a positive way. When Trump tweets so often, he often makes himself and our country look bad. In addition, many of his tweets are speaking personal opinions and crazy ideas he has. He doesn't keep an unbiased opinion on certain issues like a president should on social media. He continually argues with people he disagrees with on social media and bashes people who do not support him on social media. He is a cyber bully and a president should not be doing that kind of stuff on social media. I hate the fact that he does conduct his own account and does not tweet out so much because it is not something a president or political leader should do." Chase, 17.
13. "It's just not professional as is, but as a figure representing our country, the United States of America, it's far worse than unprofessional. It's never thought through beforehand, writing poorly and replying to ridiculous conversations where there are far more important matters to be taken care of." Emily, 19.
14. "If I'm being honest everything he tweets is complete bullshit, and everything he puts out there in general." Ketsia, 18.
15. "President Trump would be better off deactivating his accounts. I think if his Twitter feed wasn't the main focal point of his communication with the American public, then people wouldn't get so bent out of shape for every little thing he does. I'm not saying that everything he does is amazing but they wouldn't be blown out of proportion if Twitter didn't exist." Joseph, 20.
16. "I hate Trump." Leila, 18.
17. "In my opinion, President Trump needs to learn some social media manners. It's irresponsible and unprofessional to express yourself publicly online in the ways that he does - attacking, vulgar, and biased." Liz, 19.
18. "I think that Twitter is a great way to try to reach citizens in a more informal way, especially the younger generation. However, Donald Trump's lack of professionalism both on Twitter and throughout all aspects of his life and his presidency is creating a lot of problems in his presidential communication that haven't needed to be addressed before. The echo chamber he's created for himself, his knee-jerk reactions to important events and tragedies, his inability to spell, the way he stokes his own ego, and how he blocks citizens, thus infringing on their First Amendment rights, are all situations that have arisen and need to be addressed if Trump is going to maintain control of his social media accounts. I don't mind him having a Twitter and being an active user on it but I think it's high time that he recognizes that actions have consequences and that he cannot continue this erratic behavior behind his keyboard without expecting and being able to handle some pushback." Maria, 19.
19. "Quite frankly, I'm surprised it's gotten this far. Doesn't he have better things to be doing than tweeting? You're a politician, the face of the United States, please pick up your act and start representing our country with dignity and honor, rather than making us look like a disorganized laughingstock." Jenny, 18.
20. "It doesn't bother me that President Trump tweets; other presidents before him did the same, it's not a big deal. But it's the way that he tweets that bothers me. He does not know when he crosses the line, and it is occasionally frightening to see the thoughts that truly cross his mind." Alex, 18.























