World's Biggest Megaphone, No More
Jan. 10th, 2021 06:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerThis week President Donald Trump was booted off Twitter, Facebook, and a few other social media platforms. It was a long-time-coming decision that culminated with his incitement of, and after-the-fact glorification of, violence and lawlessness in attacking the US Capitol. Hundreds of legislators in active session were besieged, their offices looted, and at least one police officer was killed.
The loss to Trump of these platforms is huge. Part of his mastery of persuasion, both as president for the past four years and in recent years before that, has been his skill at using social media. He understands social media in a way that very few people his age (early 70s) and almost no politicians even 30 years younger do. His use of Twitter, especially, has amounted to what I've called The World's Biggest Megaphone.
Through Twitter, et. al. Trump was able to communicate directly with his 88,000,000 followers without the filters that the traditional media provides— things such as checking facts and providing context. He was able to lie and distort with impunity and cater to people's basest instincts. Now that has been taken away.
Unsurprisingly Trump has been apoplectic about being de-platformed, according to administration insiders speaking anonymously. Well, now with his megaphone taken away, he can scream it into the void.
The loss to Trump of these platforms is huge. Part of his mastery of persuasion, both as president for the past four years and in recent years before that, has been his skill at using social media. He understands social media in a way that very few people his age (early 70s) and almost no politicians even 30 years younger do. His use of Twitter, especially, has amounted to what I've called The World's Biggest Megaphone.
Through Twitter, et. al. Trump was able to communicate directly with his 88,000,000 followers without the filters that the traditional media provides— things such as checking facts and providing context. He was able to lie and distort with impunity and cater to people's basest instincts. Now that has been taken away.
Unsurprisingly Trump has been apoplectic about being de-platformed, according to administration insiders speaking anonymously. Well, now with his megaphone taken away, he can scream it into the void.
