New innovations in social media have established convenient methods of communication, ultimately broadening the horizons of today’s relationships. With websites such as Twitter, any user can reach millions of people with the click of a button. Not only has this revelation changed social constructs, but it has also provided opportunities for political figures and news sources to quickly pass information to the masses.

The modern era of social media has created a platform that allows public figures to address large sums of people in a matter of seconds. This new tool has enabled Twitter to become the voice of the people and the connection between the people and their leaders.

Most politicians have created Twitter accounts to share relevant opinions or to unveil information that supports their political agenda. Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Mike Pence, Donald Trump, and Hillary Clinton are only a small fraction of all the politicians who are now found online.

A majority of the tweeting politicians handle the accounts professionally and use them sparingly, sharing only the most important information. The current administration has taken  a different route, however, as Donald Trump has decided to use Twitter as his main source of communication with the American people.

Trump’s presidency has lasted two months so far, and his tweets have already sparked controversy. Early in his presidency, he instigated the “fake news” phenomenon, in which he began dismissing all anti-Trump news reports or any liberal-leaning news sources as “fake news.” This began a series of controversial Twitter outbursts from the president.

The president’s tweeting has even gotten to a point where he has live-tweeted sessions of Congress. During a hearing with FBI Director James Comey, Trump tweeted “The NSA and FBI tell Congress that Russia did not influence electoral process.” In the hearing, Representative Jim Himes asked Comey whether this was accurate, and Comey quickly denied any intention of conveying that message. Not only is live-tweeting Congressional hearings inappropriate, but openly lying to the American people is an absurd abuse of power.

We are fully supportive of the use of social media to link modern politicians to their constituents, but Trump’s execution has been horribly out of line. Trump should take a hint from the other politicians and use Twitter in a more professional and sophisticated manner.

Not only are Trump’s tweets detrimental to the image of the presidency, but they have also employed evidence of deception in the president’s agenda. Twitter has created situations in which Trump has contradicted his own prior statements. With all of his information released on a social media site, evidence of his lies are as simple as a screenshot. If Trump announces something in 2017 that contradicts something he said in 2012, the country is made aware of it in minutes. Trump’s tweeting is causing him to lose credibility and only hurts his approval rating.

Social media in politics is an intelligent use of modern technology to convey information to the American people, but like all things, it must be used within reason. Trump should not be using his account to rant like a teenager, but should use it to inform constituents of important policies and decisions he has made.

Editorial Board

Agree –  8

Disagree – 0