Abstract

Twitter has much to offer those who wish to communicate with their constituents, but is it a practical mode of communication for the President of the United States? The purpose of this research is to better understand the role of Twitter in presidential communication. By invoking the work of Neil Postman (1985), this research not only unpacks patterns of Twitter usage from President Donald Trump across his first 100 days in office, but furthermore, qualitatively examines these patterns and their merit as a tool for political communication. Moreover, this research reveals how the environment of Twitter is changing political communication and the implications for audiences across the globe. Trump often uses Twitter as a mechanism for derailment, taking advantage of Twitter’s fragmented structure and affordances. Themes emergent from the data are Twitter as A Platform for Self-Promotion, A Platform for Spin, and A Platform for Disinformation.

Key words: Presidential Communication, Twitter, Donald Trump, Neil Postman, Spin, Media Ecology, Fragmentation