Presidential communication has taken many forms, ever since the first presidential address by George Washington and up to President Trump's tweets today. The real question is, how does the difference in medium change the reality of the situation?
On July 1st, 2017, Donald Trump tweeted, "My use of social media is not Presidential - it's MODERN DAY PRESIDENTIAL." This could be argued in both ways, pro-Twitter and anti-Twitter. Yes, technology has evolved and the world has rapidly changed, which brings with it new forms of communication. But when we look back at, say, President Kennedy's "We choose to go to the moon" speech, everything looks different. In 1962, there was advanced communication - televisions, radios, and ways to transverse through space, yet President Kennedy still chose to present his speech at Rice University, to a live audience. This speech was over 17 minutes long, filled with passion and love for the country.
Some of President Trump's tweets have been considerably less eloquent, and definitely never reaching the height and fame of past presidents' speeches. His most liked tweet, as of November, 2016, was as response to Hillary Clinton's attack, "Delete your account." President Trump responded with "How long did it take your staff of 823 people to think that up--and where are your 33,000 emails that you deleted?" For the most liked tweet, you would expect it to be uplifting and inspirational, but in President Trump's case, it isn't.
It will take years until we reach the next form of communication. Only then will we really know what tweeting presidential announcements was like and what effect it had on the world. From Woodrow Wilson's addresses by train, to John F. Kennedy's inspirational live addresses, and now, to President Trump's tweets, the medium of presidential communication still changes, for the better or for the worse.
Sources:
https://twitter.com/i/moments/795695925566050304?lang=en
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_choose_to_go_to_the_Moon
Super interesting article about how communication between presidents and the people have evolved! After doing some research, I found that since Trump has popularized Twitter as an outlet for information about politics, more and more government agencies are turning to Twitter to release news and information and updates about their policies. Police and fire departments now release updates and warnings about crimes and suspects and storms. Additionally, I noticed that a lot of the live Brexit news and updates was being posted on Twitter which is cool now that information is more accessible.
ReplyDeleteSource: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevleetaru/2019/04/28/as-the-government-and-emergency-agencies-shift-to-twitter-what-happens-to-those-left-behind/#132bc92e78aa
This post was very well written and I agree that the means of communication for presidents has drastically changed. It makes me wonder how much technology has impacted viewer percentages and opinions as well. Since almost all presidential speeches and addresses can be streamed, and news stations and comedy shows often cover the highlights, I'm interested to know: do people actually hear the whole speech for themselves, or do they simply just watch the news to learn about what other people think of the most controversial lines? In our world of technology today, it's debatable whether people will continue to hear the addresses along with the influential opinions of actors and reporters. Will we ever go back to experiencing important political speeches live, with the ability to form our own opinions?
ReplyDeleteI found this article to be extremely interesting as it showed how communication in the presidency has truly evolved from social media to tweets. You really showed how technology has impacted how much information has been spread to citizens in America. You often hear about how Trump said this about something or that about another thing because of his tweets and it is something presidents didn't do before, and the way that technology has created a society where a president constantly is sharing his views every moment has not been seen before.
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