scholarly journals Ratioing the President: An exploration of public engagement with Obama and Trump on Twitter

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. e0248880
Author(s):  
Joshua R. Minot ◽  
Michael V. Arnold ◽  
Thayer Alshaabi ◽  
Christopher M. Danforth ◽  
Peter Sheridan Dodds
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
The United States ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
The Past ◽  
2016 Election ◽  
Use Of Social Media

The past decade has witnessed a marked increase in the use of social media by politicians, most notably exemplified by the 45th President of the United States (POTUS), Donald Trump. On Twitter, POTUS messages consistently attract high levels of engagement as measured by likes, retweets, and replies. Here, we quantify the balance of these activities, also known as “ratios”, and study their dynamics as a proxy for collective political engagement in response to presidential communications. We find that raw activity counts increase during the period leading up to the 2016 election, accompanied by a regime change in the ratio of retweets-to-replies connected to the transition between campaigning and governing. For the Trump account, we find words related to fake news and the Mueller inquiry are more common in tweets with a high number of replies relative to retweets. Finally, we find that Barack Obama consistently received a higher retweet-to-reply ratio than Donald Trump. These results suggest Trump’s Twitter posts are more often controversial and subject to enduring engagement as a given news cycle unfolds.

Impact of General Social Media Experience on Usefulness for Business in the Workplace

2014 ◽  
pp. 14-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald L. Amoroso ◽  
Tsuneki Mukahi ◽  
Mikako Ogawa
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Strong Predictor ◽  
The United States ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Collective Knowledge ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
Media Experience ◽  
Behavioral Intention To Use ◽  
Media Applications

This chapter looks at the adoption of general social media applications on usefulness for business, comparing the factors that influence adoption at work between Japan and the United States. In Japan, ease of use and usefulness for collective knowledge in general social media are predictors of usefulness for business social media, and in the United States, only usefulness for collective knowledge is a strong predictor of usefulness for business. The authors did not find behavioral intention to use social media in the workplace to be an important factor in predicting the usefulness of social media for business. The value of this research is its ability to understand the use of social media in the workplace to include how the experience of social media impacts on the expectation of usefulness for business and how the impact of ease of use differs from Japanese to the United States because of cultural, technological, and market reasons.

scholarly journals Simulacra in the Age of Social Media: Baudrillard as the Prophet of Fake News

2020 ◽  
pp. 019685992097715
Author(s):  
James Morris
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
General Trend ◽  
Digital Age ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Online Technology ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Mass Reproduction

“Fake News” has been a frequent topic in the last couple of years. The phenomenon has particularly been cited with regards to the election of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States. The creation of “post truth” reports that are disseminated via the Web and social media has been treated as something new, a product of the digital age, and a reason to be concerned about the effects of online technology. However, this paper argues that fake news should be considered as part of a continuum with forms of media that went before in the 20th Century, and the general trend of postmodernity detailed by Baudrillard. The simulation of communications media and mass reproduction was already evident and has merely progressed in the digital age rather than the latter providing a wholly new context. The paper concludes by asking whether the political havoc caused by fake news has an antidote, when it appears to be a by-product of media simulacra’s inherent lack of connection to the real. In a communications landscape where the misrepresentations of the so-called “Mainstream Media” are decried using even more questionable “memes” on social media, is there any possibility for truth?

How journalists use social media in France and the United States: Analyzing technology use across journalistic fields

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 2728-2744 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Powers ◽  
Sandra Vera-Zambrano
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Daily Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
News Organizations ◽  
American Journalism ◽  
Routine Tasks ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
Depth Interviews

This article examines journalists’ use of social media in France and the United States. Through in-depth interviews, we show that shared practical sensibilities lead journalists in both countries to use social media to accomplish routine tasks (e.g. gather information, monitor sources, and develop story ideas). At the same time, we argue that the incorporation of social media into daily practice also creates opportunities for journalists to garner peer recognition and that these opportunities vary according to the distinctive national fields in which journalists are embedded. Where American journalism incentivizes individual journalists to orient social media use toward audiences, French journalism motivates news organizations to use social media for these purposes, while leaving individual journalists to focus primarily on engaging with their peers. We position these findings in relation to debates on the uses of technologies across national settings.

Almost “Nothing New Under the Sun”: American politics and the election of Donald Trump

Leadership ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 413-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
George R Goethals
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
American Politics ◽  
The United States ◽  
Popular Vote ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Electoral Vote ◽  
The Social ◽  
Large Factor ◽  
2016 Election ◽  
Implicit And Explicit

Donald Trump’s surprising 2016 election as President of the United States was unusual both in the set of states he won and in clearly winning the electoral vote while decisively losing the popular vote. His victory is somewhat less surprising given recent Republican domination of American politics, a context which provides Trump both leadership opportunities and constraints. A large factor in Trump’s rise is the leader–follower dynamics of crowds, seen throughout time, which enabled him to win an uncritical and devoted following. An important part of that dynamic was Trump’s validation of the social identity of the white working class in the United States, especially in comparison to Hillary Clinton’s both implicit and explicit denigration of that base of Trump support. Trump’s identity story for his base is unusually exclusive, highlighted by ingroup vs. outgroup hostility. His appeal is compared to inclusive identity stories successfully related by other US presidents, which suggest how future leaders might effectively touch “the better angels of our nature.”

Elections will sharpen US focus on Libya

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
Relative Influence ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Past ◽  
External Actors

Subject The Trump administration's policy on the Libya conflict. Significance In recent weeks, the United States has pursued a more active foreign policy towards Libya. This is a departure from its position of the past eight years of ‘leading from the back’ on Libya and comes as US President Donald Trump faces an impeachment investigation and elections in November 2020. With the vote approaching, Trump's opponents have increasingly criticised his position on Moscow, drawing attention to the presence of Russian mercenaries in Libya. Impacts Ties with Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and the relative influence Russia has with them, will weigh on the administration’s thinking. The State Department may push more actively for a ceasefire when a conference of external actors in Libya takes place in Berlin. A ceasefire could fragment the forces fighting Haftar without robust external guarantees that his forces would not violate it.

The Use of Social Media to Maximize Energy Performance in the United States Marine Corps

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew B. Reed ◽  
Donald M. McIntyre ◽  
Nomer I. Gatchalian
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Marine Corps ◽  
The United States ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
United States Marine Corps ◽  
Use Of Social Media

Chillin’ Effects of Fake News: Changes in Practices Related to Accountability and Transparency in American Newsrooms Under the Influence of Misinformation and Accusations Against the News Media

2021 ◽  
pp. 107769902098478
Author(s):  
Hong Tien Vu ◽  
Magdalena Saldaña
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
The United States ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
Media Environment ◽  
Media Audiences ◽  
Role Conceptions ◽  
Nationally Representative

This study examines how newsroom work in the United States has changed in response to some of the latest developments in the news media environment. Using nationally representative survey data, we explore what professional routines American journalists have adopted to avoid spreading or being accused of publishing misinformation. Findings suggest that journalists have added new or intensified practices to increase accountability and transparency. In addition, role conceptions, perception of fake news, and responsibility for social media audiences impact the adoption of such practices. Journalists are more likely to embrace transparency than accountability, suggesting the emergence of new journalistic norms in today’s newsrooms.

Fudging the Boundaries between Concept(s) of Race, Class, and Religion

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 121-140
Author(s):  
Mahmoud Haddad
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
World War I ◽  
The United States ◽  
Muslim World ◽  
Past Century ◽  
World War ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Similar Nature ◽  
The Past

For some time in the past century, the issue of racism emphasized color or race. However, it included religion in many cases. This attitude, which has subsided for some time, is making a strong comeback in many countries, foremost among them the United States, the world’s principal superpower. This study comments on the current racial ideas and compares them with ideas of a similar nature that were prevalent in the early twentieth century. It focuses on comparing the thinking of US President Donald Trump today with that of Lothrop Stoddard, known for his interest in the Muslim world, around the time of World War I and immediately after it.

scholarly journals A Roadmap for Fighting Election Interference

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 115 ◽  
pp. 69-73
Author(s):  
Jens David Ohlin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Executive Branch ◽  
Financial Resources ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Online Tools ◽  
2016 Election

If we have learned anything since the 2016 election, it is that foreign election interference is not just a strategic tool used by Russia. Many countries are now using social media disinformation as statecraft to attack democracies. With a relatively small investment of personnel and financial resources, a foreign power can use social media and other online tools to heighten divisions in the electorate, spread disinformation and conspiracy theories, and undermine confidence in the electoral system specifically and democratic institutions generally. The Biden administration should use the moral, political, and legal authorities of the Executive Branch to protect the United States from foreign election interference. In parallel, it should work cooperatively with allies to combat election interference using multilateral initiatives.

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