Media's presence with abuse of power can influence or sway an audience’s perceptive on the topic one brings into perspective. Such people with leading roles that are currently active in the media’s eye include Donald Trump and his rise to presidency, as well as Edward Snowden and what he has done against bodies of power by leaking private government information through social media.
President Donald Trump brings to the platform, and the presidency role, a new way of communicating to a social media-dependent generation. What is unique about this presidency is that this way of communicating to the people will be more monitored as it is Trump’s usual method of communication, and more importantly, the people know that what is being presented to them through his account are words that are spoken and written by him; truthful, raw and unprocessed messaging. His access to his audience will be easier than the past presidents because he is able to communicate with millions of people at once and at any time, directly. He is “reach[ing] the American people directly through social media, not indirectly though the press” (Steeve).
Donald Trump
What we get from the press these days are pre-processed information, fitted and re-worded for the general to consume. But our current society is one that leans towards information that speaks the truth and with Twitter, Trump is able to digitally express his thoughts in real time, and not as if he were making a public, formal announcement (Steeve).
President Trump and his Twitter use
Donald Trump has not only used Twitter to voice his thoughts through the presidential elections, but has also recently received poor receptions after using the official POTUS account for tweeting about his daughter’s business after Nordstrom dropped Ivanka’s clothing line. He spoke negatively of Nordstrom and after tweeting on his personal twitter account, he retweeted the post on the official Potus account, something belonging to the White House. This caused an uproar as it is a conflict between the president’s personal and official business in office; it “trivialized the office.” Although Trump has made various posts on the account, targeting several companies, this is the first time that he has targeted a business based on personal reasons.
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Celebrities and Social Media
Edward Snowden
In June of 2013, Edward Snowden, a former contractor for the CIA, exposed that the government was collecting information on its citizens and storing them for security purposes on a surveillance program known as Prism. The leaked information showed that NSA had been spying on organizations and people by taping on phone calls; detrimental for trust between the allies.
For a long time, Edward Snowden has not been out of the public’s eye ever since the release of private information. But he has never had a direct link/ conversation with the public, until his recent signup with the social platform Twitter. In about half an hour, he surpassed 70,000 followers and counting. Through Twitter, he attracts a wide audience of followers, but also uses the platform to point to certain things in his life. One tweet about his start-up with opening a twitter account, and another alluding to his exile from US.
Through Twitter, Snowden has a direct access to the public to talk
about his ideas and his day to day life to thousands of people.
Edward Snowden and his Twitter use
After Donald Trump’s election, Edward Snowden has made an announcement that the government surveillance programs "will create vulnerabilities for social media users” (IANS). "'The same technologies that are being used to connect us, to tie us together, to let you listen to this right now, are also being used to make records about your activity. Recording the activities of someone creates vulnerabilities for them,’ Snowden said during a question-and-answer session with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey CEO on the live video app Periscope owned by the micro-blogging site” (IAN). This is because after Trump ascended, he increased all digital surveillance in relations to Muslim-Americans; illegal immigrants.
Edward Snowden and Trump
