EDUC 5199
The recent election victory for Donald Trump is arguable the greatest political upset in the history of U.S. politics. His election win contradicted the sentiments and evidence of many pollsters, pundits, and contributors who envisioned Hilary Clinton winning the election with relative ease. How could so many people have been so wrong in the assessment of the election? Was there a secret strategy the Trump campaign capitalized on to win the election? Between September and October Facebook users have made close to 1 billion Trump-related likes, posts, comments and shares (Nolter, 2016). In the important swing state of Nevada Trump inspired close to 9.5 million posts, likes, comments and shares over the last month. There we only about 7 million referring to Clinton (Nolter, 2016). There is little doubt that Trump's "mastery" of social media was a key factor in his upset election win over Hilary Clinton. " I am the Ernest Heminway of 140 characters" Trump has taken advantage of social media like no other politician is history. Trump has more than 5.5 million Twitter followers and 4.5 million Facebook fans. He has a presence across YouTube, Vine, Instagram and Periscope (Parkinson, 2015). During the GOP candidacy process Trump spent just 1% of the money Jeb Bush had on TV adverts (Parkinson, 2015). Trump's use of social media often times played on peoples laughter and sense of humor to garner support. Whether it be hosting Saturday Night Live or appearing on Jimmy Fallon, Trump sought out ways to portray himself in humorous and funny ways. Sarma states, "The internet is a specific modality of knowledge, it is random and highly fragmented... humour and laughter play a role in the circulation process (what is shared, how much, how fast) parodies can be sometimes remain our sole connection to an event or issue." (p.113) Donald Trump certainly took advantage of his social media presence and exploited peoples sense of humor to garner public awareness and popular support. References
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AuthorMy name is Colin Lindsay and I am a currently a Masters student at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. My areas of focus include sports, music, and the survival of the Canadian identity in the shadow of American culture. ArchivesCategories |