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Perhaps Trump’s return to Twitter isn’t that big of a deal.
That was the argument tech journalist Kara Swisher made during a Sunday appearance on CBS, Axios reports. “I don’t think it makes any difference. Plus he’s the former president, so it doesn’t hit quite as hard,” Swisher said. “People have been posting his truths – I think that’s what they’re called – on Twitter already and it gets out anyway.”
As someone who has been studying Mr. Trump’s Twitter use since before he was elected president, I believe that his return would mean the heightened spread of both misinformation and disinformation, the proliferation of degrading and dehumanizing discourse, the further mainstreaming of hate speech and the erosion of democratic norms and institutions. But there is something else: Mr. Trump’s return to Twitter could escalate the likelihood of political violence.
Given that our communication environment is structurally predisposed to heighten and cement our ever-growing political divide by telling us how right and righteous we are, one may reasonably wonder why I am concerned about one user in particular. First, a large number of people not only listen to Mr. Trump but also are inclined to take direction from him. Second, Mr. Trump combines divisiveness and dogmatism with hatred and angry rhetoric that risks inciting violence. For reasons better left to psychologists, Donald Trump is not content to forget or forgive people he perceives have wronged him. He wants to destroy them. So, he calls them out, often on social media, and then he goads his followers into doing something about it.
Continue reading…Former president yet to tweet after account reactivatedSign up to receive First Thing – our daily briefing by emailPerhaps Trump’s return to Twitter isn’t that big of a deal.That was the argument tech journalist Kara Swisher made during a Sunday appearance on CBS, Axios reports. “I don’t think it makes any difference. Plus he’s the former president, so it doesn’t hit quite as hard,” Swisher said. “People have been posting his truths – I think that’s what they’re called – on Twitter already and it gets out anyway.”As someone who has been studying Mr. Trump’s Twitter use since before he was elected president, I believe that his return would mean the heightened spread of both misinformation and disinformation, the proliferation of degrading and dehumanizing discourse, the further mainstreaming of hate speech and the erosion of democratic norms and institutions. But there is something else: Mr. Trump’s return to Twitter could escalate the likelihood of political violence.Given that our communication environment is structurally predisposed to heighten and cement our ever-growing political divide by telling us how right and righteous we are, one may reasonably wonder why I am concerned about one user in particular. First, a large number of people not only listen to Mr. Trump but also are inclined to take direction from him. Second, Mr. Trump combines divisiveness and dogmatism with hatred and angry rhetoric that risks inciting violence. For reasons better left to psychologists, Donald Trump is not content to forget or forgive people he perceives have wronged him. He wants to destroy them. So, he calls them out, often on social media, and then he goads his followers into doing something about it. Continue reading…