Social media has become the primary means of communication globally. It has a great following and this has seen the US presidency and other elected leaders use social media in driving their social development agendas, engage with the people they represent and analyze peoples view on a certain topic. Sometimes social media is an extension of their press secretary. This paper will discuss on the US presidency and elected leaders use of social media.
Social media is a tool that can be so effective and powerful but can also be capable to cause danger to an individual’s career (Eltantawy et al 78). There is a huge repercussion when you use social media in the wrong way. Elected leaders are turning on social media to promote legislation and update their following on their daily activities. Flaws have been seen over time when this legislators do not manage their social media the right way or give inexperienced individuals to run their social media accounts. Legislators should avoid contradiction to avoid social media blunder that causes awkwardness and retractions. Poor management of social media accounts has made some politicians to get in trouble for example the Arizona State representative who gave an erred message on tweeter about some campus who were headed for the YMCA. Elected leaders either post on social media by themselves or they employ people to do the work for them. Legislators need individuals who understand strategic purpose and mature to post for them on social media. This is because any mistake made by their social media representatives will make the legislator responsible. Interns should not be trusted with social media posting and management because they lack the experience. Social media needs that the one posting and the legislator to be in one page.
The US president Donald Trump on 7th January 2017 posted that ‘Only reason the hacking of the poorly defended DNC is discussed is that the loss of Dems was so big that they are totally embarrassed.’ (Sunstein 34). It was preemptive framing where the presidency wanted to be the first to present an idea. On 2nd November 2017 The Vice president, Mike Pence tweeted ‘With the support of FL and the leadership of Trump, we'll pass the largest tax cut in American history—and we'll pass it this year.’ Mike Pence was emphasizing on the presidency’s vision plan (Sunstein 45)
Donald Trump online presence represents a bully. He launches strange attacks on people who he is aware that his supporters will pick on. Most of his tweets are more emotive and short. They represent and make his pre-existing attitudes more strong. His followers have represented him as one who speaks out his mind. However, his supporters also say he should tweet less and be a little reckless (Lipschultz 40). Mike Pence is more composed in his tweets and more on the Presidency’s development agenda and delivery. Donald Trump’s key values that he drive through his social media are; recognition, power and Altruism while mike pence message on social media have been government reform, foreign policy and environment.
The presidency’s constant posts on social media are not always consistent with the official website. Mike Pence’s post on 26th October 2017 he described how he will support President Donald Trump in tax cut which was not consistent with the official government’s website. President Donald Trump has on occasion posted about making trade deals with Asian countries which is described in the government’s website.
Elected leaders have a social and personal responsibilities to the people they represent. The leaders should devote much attention to the interests and needs on the ground and on social media. They should use decisions that are fair and that involves ethical allocation. Apart from seeing leaders on television and on social media, the society expects to see their leader and engage with them on issues that they need to be worked on.
The presidency have a responsibility to serve both those who support them and those who do not support them. The president and the vice president will need to post things on their social media accounts that is not biased or insightful. To improve on his social media presence and brand President Donald Trump should tweet less and be a little reckless. He should also concentrate on his delivery on the visions rather than settling scores. Vice president Mike pence should be more active and post on pertinent issues all social media platforms which will him to get better ranking, brand awareness and enhancement. This will allow him to have more website traffic Antonakis(55).
Fake news can have a great effect on someone else’s image. To identify false and misleading information from the way they have shared their stories on social media. The comments that this fake news attracted is often have multiple people calling on them for being fake. You can also verify how true posts online are from a quick Google search. Stories that someone else said especially the presidency should be quoted on a publication (Allcott, Hunt, and Matthew 54)
Conclusion
Social media is a tool that collaboratively connects its users with other users and also by influencing the community. Social media helps elected leaders in delivering public service to the citizens they represent. People are able to engage their leaders on policy and politics. Social media can trigger change in the government as evidence on the US presidency. President Donald Trump social media presence has made him friends and foes. He clearly communicates to his audience his point of view thus having an engaged following always.
Works cited
Allcott, Hunt, and Matthew Gentzkow. "Social media and fake news in the 2016 election." Journal of Economic Perspectives 31.2 (2017): 211-36.
Antonakis, John, and David V. Day, eds. The nature of leadership. Sage publications, 2017.
Eltantawy, Nahed, and Julie B. Wiest. "The Arab spring| Social media in the Egyptian revolution: reconsidering resource mobilization theory." International Journal of Communication 5 (2011): 18.
Lipschultz, Jeremy Harris. Social media communication: Concepts, practices, data, law and ethics. Taylor " Francis, 2017.
Sunstein, Cass R. # Republic: Divided democracy in the age of social media. Princeton University Press, 2017.
