Trump's Twitter strategy: President Donald Trump often shares his feelings on Twitter, tweeting multiple times with angry messages for political opponents or anyone who says anything he doesn't like.
But a recent study from the University of Birmingham, England, finds that Trump and his campaign effectively used the social media platform in 2016. And according to Jack Grieve, professor in the university's Department of English Language and Linguistics, the study "shows how online presence on social media platforms is a crucial component of modern politics."
The British team examined more than 21,000 of Trump's tweets. They analyzed how the campaign used social media during the 2016 election and how Trump's language shifted depending on events and the campaign's goals.
Trump and his team countered critical coverage of the campaign "by disengaging from other viewpoints, focusing instead on using social media to express opinions, attack opponents and promote the campaign," the study found. "Rather than debating his critics or disputing their claims, Trump often ignored their attacks and continued to present his own agenda, doubling down on controversial views, especially as the campaign progressed. This defensive strategy may have insulated Trump and his supporters from these attacks, while helping to present Trump as an outsider who was standing up to mainstream politicians and media outlets."
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