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Trump’s Sweden tweets expose the essential problem with social media Trump’s Sweden tweets expose the essential problem with social media
(about 4 hours later)
I like to go on Facebook and moan to friends about how awful Twitter is these days. There is neither rhyme nor reason on Twitter; just a lot of shouting by folk in a semi-aroused state of permanent outrage. Then there are the trolls – some of them “journalists” – roaming the Twitter plains for a reaction, and usually getting get it. Many of these are people with posh names, liberal-baiting sayers of the unsayable – the “unsayable” generally just being routine racism, sexism and idiocy. Attention is their choice of lubricant, and we really should not provide it.I like to go on Facebook and moan to friends about how awful Twitter is these days. There is neither rhyme nor reason on Twitter; just a lot of shouting by folk in a semi-aroused state of permanent outrage. Then there are the trolls – some of them “journalists” – roaming the Twitter plains for a reaction, and usually getting get it. Many of these are people with posh names, liberal-baiting sayers of the unsayable – the “unsayable” generally just being routine racism, sexism and idiocy. Attention is their choice of lubricant, and we really should not provide it.
Then of course there is Donald Trump, who while tweeting on the toilet gives us direct access to his … brain? Policies? Night terrors? Or maybe he’s just devoted to giving us the pure stuff that the media would inevitably lie about.Then of course there is Donald Trump, who while tweeting on the toilet gives us direct access to his … brain? Policies? Night terrors? Or maybe he’s just devoted to giving us the pure stuff that the media would inevitably lie about.
Twitter is hard to avoid, even if you never use it. News and analysis now relies on tweets. Social media has not, for some time, been a separate entity to other media. When Trump talked at his rally on Saturday night about Sweden - “You look at what’s happening last night in Sweden. Sweden. Who would believe this?” – much fun was had on Twitter with what his rhetorical question could possibly mean. There had been no terrorist attack in Sweden on Friday, or any other extraordinary news event.Twitter is hard to avoid, even if you never use it. News and analysis now relies on tweets. Social media has not, for some time, been a separate entity to other media. When Trump talked at his rally on Saturday night about Sweden - “You look at what’s happening last night in Sweden. Sweden. Who would believe this?” – much fun was had on Twitter with what his rhetorical question could possibly mean. There had been no terrorist attack in Sweden on Friday, or any other extraordinary news event.
What matters for Trump, though, is not what is true but what is believable. Former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt wondered on Twitter what Trump had been smoking. The JeSuisIkea meme was born. Trump then tweeted, “clarifying” his comments by saying he got his information from Fox News: “My statement as to what’s happening in Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on @FoxNews concerning immigrants & Sweden”. It was almost as if he didn’t have access to the most in-depth intelligence reports of anyone in the world.What matters for Trump, though, is not what is true but what is believable. Former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt wondered on Twitter what Trump had been smoking. The JeSuisIkea meme was born. Trump then tweeted, “clarifying” his comments by saying he got his information from Fox News: “My statement as to what’s happening in Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on @FoxNews concerning immigrants & Sweden”. It was almost as if he didn’t have access to the most in-depth intelligence reports of anyone in the world.
Sweden? Terror attack? What has he been smoking? Questions abound. https://t.co/XWgw8Fz7tjSweden? Terror attack? What has he been smoking? Questions abound. https://t.co/XWgw8Fz7tj
Immediately his supporters suggested a cover–up of what was really happening in Sweden, and before you know it, just as so many times before, we were down the Twitter sinkhole of rightwing conspiracy theorists, when all anyone really wanted was to see a picture of a hamster on a tiny motorbike.Immediately his supporters suggested a cover–up of what was really happening in Sweden, and before you know it, just as so many times before, we were down the Twitter sinkhole of rightwing conspiracy theorists, when all anyone really wanted was to see a picture of a hamster on a tiny motorbike.
Trump’s calculation that Twitter could give him direct access to a huge audience – presidency as celebrity as unmediated communication – has been absolutely right. What he says may be unhinged, misspelt and ungrammatical, and it may make many recoil, but by claiming his is a “real” voice, where all else is mediated and therefore distorted, is working for him strategically. Of course he is not bypassing the media, he is just selecting it, and Twitter is part of that media.Trump’s calculation that Twitter could give him direct access to a huge audience – presidency as celebrity as unmediated communication – has been absolutely right. What he says may be unhinged, misspelt and ungrammatical, and it may make many recoil, but by claiming his is a “real” voice, where all else is mediated and therefore distorted, is working for him strategically. Of course he is not bypassing the media, he is just selecting it, and Twitter is part of that media.
A lot of people who say they hate the media are really objecting to the closeness of parts of it to the political class, and they have a point. That class is closed off to them both in Westminster and Washington. Twitter has exposed this chumminess, the tight connections of these people who lunch together, big each other up, go to the same colleges, who decide the line in a political circle jerk. People feel angry and locked out of this, and they are. While beckoning them in, social media has shone the light on some of these hierarchies, and simultaneously made them feel shut out.A lot of people who say they hate the media are really objecting to the closeness of parts of it to the political class, and they have a point. That class is closed off to them both in Westminster and Washington. Twitter has exposed this chumminess, the tight connections of these people who lunch together, big each other up, go to the same colleges, who decide the line in a political circle jerk. People feel angry and locked out of this, and they are. While beckoning them in, social media has shone the light on some of these hierarchies, and simultaneously made them feel shut out.
The other thing that makes Twitter an uneasy place is the sheer level of abuse it allows. Again, this is unmediated. Diane Abbot has exposed the recent level of death and rape threats against her. This is absolutely horrific, but unfortunately not a surprise to me or any other woman who has had to go to the police as a result of threats on social media (way back in 2013, feminist writer and activist Caroline Criado-Perez spoke frankly about the awful abuse and threats she was receiving as she campaigned to get a woman of achievement on our bank notes). The other thing that makes Twitter an uneasy place is the sheer level of abuse it allows. Again, this is unmediated. Diane Abbott has exposed the recent level of death and rape threats against her. This is absolutely horrific, but unfortunately not a surprise to me or any other woman who has had to go to the police as a result of threats on social media (way back in 2013, feminist writer and activist Caroline Criado-Perez spoke frankly about the awful abuse and threats she was receiving as she campaigned to get a woman of achievement on our bank notes).
To be frank, the police cannot cope with the extent of abuse on social media. Twitter did not invent misogyny, but by not stepping in early it has elevated it into an established part of public life. For those who claim not to see abuse on social media, I say that, rather like porn, you would be shocked at how hardcore it can get. Do we accept misogyny and racism as the unfiltered voice of the people? Currently, we do.To be frank, the police cannot cope with the extent of abuse on social media. Twitter did not invent misogyny, but by not stepping in early it has elevated it into an established part of public life. For those who claim not to see abuse on social media, I say that, rather like porn, you would be shocked at how hardcore it can get. Do we accept misogyny and racism as the unfiltered voice of the people? Currently, we do.
The fantasy of a direct and democratised communication has given way to all kinds of abuse. Trump’s tweets now dominate our news cycles, day after day. What he says online is amplified. So, thankfully, is the ridicule. But the question remains: who is really using Twitter, and who is being used by it?The fantasy of a direct and democratised communication has given way to all kinds of abuse. Trump’s tweets now dominate our news cycles, day after day. What he says online is amplified. So, thankfully, is the ridicule. But the question remains: who is really using Twitter, and who is being used by it?