Chapter 1. LaunchPad for Media and Culture 11e

Digital Update Activity: Debating Presidential Communication and Social Media

Digital Update Activity: Debating Presidential Communication and Social Media
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You must read each slide, and complete any questions on the slide, in sequence.

Donald Trump began using Twitter in 2009 to help build his brand, first as a reality television personality, and then to communicate directly with his base of supporters during the 2016 presidential campaign. His tweeting habit continued after he got into the Oval Office, and he currently delivers his controversial stream of boasts, taunts, and opinions on Twitter at all hours of the day to his almost thirty-two million followers.

Trump sees his Twitter communication as an honest way to connect directly with his supporters, unmediated by the press. His first press secretary, Sean Spicer, explained, “The president is the most effective messenger on his agenda.” Trump has used Twitter to promote his policies, to distract the news media from other stories, and to settle scores. His supporters are largely supportive of his tweets. His unfiltered tweets reveal his point of view, but his views are sometimes at odds with the messages of his PR staff, making his staff scramble to do damage control. Social media is a relatively new invention, and President Trump’s use of social media is unprecedented; we have never seen anything like it in the history of official presidential communication.

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Presidential Social Media Use: For or Against

Break into groups of four. Each group should have two sides, for and against. You may draw on examples of President Trump’s and President Obama’s use of social media (they are our only two presidents so far to engage heavily with social media, including Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, and Snapchat).

  • For: Discuss a list of arguments in favor of the next president’s use of social media. Work together to present an argument about how and why a president should use social media across a number of social platforms.
  • Against: Discuss a list of arguments against the next president’s use of social media. Work together to present an argument explaining how and why a president should communicate with the public without social media.

In arguments both in favor and against, consider how to best meet the Public Relations Society of America’s definition of public relations, “Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other.”

Use the box below to record your arguments.

Question

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In arguments both in favor and against, consider how to best meet the Public Relations Society of America’s definition of public relations, “Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other.”

Presentation

Each group of four will now present their arguments to the entire class. After the presentations, discuss how social media might help or harm our future communications with elected officials.