I have never had a Twitter account, nor do I plan to. It is because of how many people use Twitter as their podium for political declarations or attacks. However, this same issue has spread to other social media. Even though I am focused on Twitter, this should apply to all social media sites.
Regardless whether you voted for Trump or not, I would think everyone agrees that his tweets don't help anything. Since tweets are limited to being short, you cannot say or share anything of much substance. But insults and complaints are easy to do. Thus, that is usually what President Trump does. The tweets only arouse people's emotions and continue to evoke bitterness and arguments. What also doesn't help is other politicians who do much of the same tweeting. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is an example, like when she said detention facilities are "concentration camps." Tweets that constantly accuse people of being racist or working for special interests are just as bad.
Our political situation is horrible enough, especially with individuals who are not willing to call out bad actions from their own side. When have tweets or social media posts from any politician helped the situation? Rarely do they have a good effect. Even the politicians who fire back on Twitter at the President or a representative don't help much. Just like political tweets from talk show hosts or news journalists, it leads to excessive arguing between thousands of Twitter users who have nothing better to do.
Is this all Trump's fault as journalists would claim? I personally don't think so since celebrities have acted like this on social media way before Trump's win in 2016. One way many politicians try to appeal to voters today is by being a celebrity. The way they dress, the events they attend, or anything else they do in public. Perhaps Trump, being a celebrity himself with his wealth, brought this same behavior with him into the office. But the other thing to keep in mind is that it is a waste of time to figure out who started this behavior on social media.
This is not an excuse for Trump to tweet as he does. Nor is it an excuse for Democratic opponents to act the same way. If anything, it should be a wake-up call to all of us on not using social media for debating politics. For politicians, the message should be to go back to how statesmen and stateswomen should act. They should behave accordingly and treat all Americans with respect and civility. If they use social media, they should use it to promote unity and awareness of what they are doing. One thing that President Trump does right is that he posts what is on his agenda for the day. I think it would be great if each politician did that.
Also, the media needs to stop covering tweets or other social media posts from politicians. First, there are more important topics to cover than tweets. Second, talking about it promotes the post, which we don't want if it is rude or provoking. If we just ignore it, those social media posts won't get the attention that the politicians want. Plus the media's current coverage of tweets has been biased by condemning President Trump's tweets more than Representative Omar's or Ocasio-Cortez's tweets. The solution is to ignore foolish and childish social media posts. The same solution is what we should do when using social media. Don't comment or react to the posts, just scroll past them. And take a moment to consider your social media activity, are you acting like everyone else who is arguing? Are you acting like Trump or Ocasio-Cortez?
I hope that President Trump realizes that his tweets don't help his cause. I hope that he starts to use social media responsibly. Considering the bigger picture, I hope that Democrats and Republicans do the same with their social media accounts. Like I said before, social media is not good for arguing political ideologies or policies. I have no idea if politicians will change their social media habits. For now, let's not give attention to the provocative tweets and move on with our lives.
