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How Trump gained power in the 2016 presidential campaign through Twitter

One of the main reasons Obama won the election in 2012 was because his follower count was around 20million as he was currently already president whilst Romneys was around 1.4 (Evans., et al, 2014).  However, in the 2016 election, both candidates were going to be new presidents and in October 2015 when both candidates had announced they were running for presidency their follow count was the same (Enli, 2017). Henceforth, there was no predetermined Twitter following base as would come with the territory of being the country’s current leader, thus this the campaign would become a battle for popularity. Pewresearch (2016) report that in 2016 social media sites as a direct source of news have bypassed traditional platforms thus Trump’s Twitter page became its own “mass media channel.” (Enli, 2017, p.4). 

One of Trumps power strategies on Twitter was through his demonization of opposition as he “demonizes those with whom he disagrees” (Jamieson & Taussig, 2017, p.5) through Twitter as obvious with Clinton, the other candidate running for office (see below).This ‘Crooked Hillary’ became a theme of Trumps tweets directed at Clinton and these perverse name calling were also evident on Twitter of other Republicans who were running for the Republican nomination, for example nicknaming Marco Rubio ‘little Marco’, or Ted Cruz ‘lying Ted’ (Jamieson & Taussig, 2017, p. 24). This is an effective way of power through demonization of names, giving negative stigmas, associating other candidates as liars and being crooked creates scapegoats “always have a convenient scapegoat” (Greene, 2010, p.12).

Furthermore,the role of Twitter gives one a position of power since one is in complete control of what is circulated around their Twitter name and in the case of Trump if he liked something he would retweet it and if he did not he would ridicule it, in other words using “selective honestly” (Greene, 2010, p.7). Which is seen by Greene as deception and manipulation of the truth, because “If you have a history of deceit behind you (as Trump did), then play the rogue… Your dishonesty becomes an act of honesty.” (p.7). This deceit meant that Trump made his audience believe that many negative articles written about him were ‘fake news’ however, according to Alcott (2017), there were around 115 pro-Trump fake stories that were shared over the internet over 30 million times and only 41 pro-Clinton stories that were shared 7.6 million times, over the course of the election (p.2). Which he did not label address as fake news through his Twitter.

Another potential reason for Trump’s popularity is because of his outspoken manner which is generally controversial, for example, BBCnews (2018) report that he retweeted Britainfirst three times on Twitter which is a racist fascist, extreme right-wing organization. Greene (2010) reports that any kind of attention gives someone a position of power regardless of good or bad who gives the example of P.T Barnum  “ P.T. Barnum learned about courting attention to his favor. Any form of publicity would benefit his entertainment business, no matter if it were bad publicity.” (p.5). This type of behaviour causes more people to talk since it is quite serious and in this interview (below) he gives, he states he had no idea what type of organization Britainfirst is however, the Tweets were not taken down for three weeks and since it caused an uproar one would assume he would have been informed but according to the laws of power “ Playing naïve lets you see opportunities to deceive others” (Greene, 2010, p. 10).

Twitter has presented a new level of freedom of speech, typically in campaigns, a candidate is addressed by the press for the majority however, in 2016 Trump used Twitter to address his campaign. This meant positive news about Trump was exemplified and negative was labelled fake, opponents in the campaign became demonized scapegoats and his outspoken manor just brought more attention to his Twitter, since publicity can mean a bigger follower base. Twitter gave Trump power and this power led to his victory.

Word Count 639

References 

Allcott, H., & Gentzkow, M. (2017). Social media and fake news in the 2016 election. Journal of economic perspectives, 31(2), 211-36. 

BBC News. (2018). Trump 'ready to apologise' for far-right posts. [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42829555.  

Enli, G. (2017). Twitter as an arena for the authentic outsider: exploring the social media campaigns of Trump and Clinton in the 2016 US presidential election. European journal of communication, 32(1), 50-61.

Evans, H. K., Cordova, V., & Sipole, S. (2014). Twitter style: An analysis of how house candidates used Twitter in their 2012 campaigns. PS: Political Science & Politics, 47(2), 454-462.

Greene, R. (2010). The 48 laws of power (Vol. 1). Profile Books.

Jamieson, K. H., & Taussig, D. (2017). Disruption, demonization, deliverance, and norm destruction: the rhetorical signature of Donald J. Trump. Political Science Quarterly, 132(4), 619-651.    

Pew Research (2016) Election 2016: Campaigns as a Direct Source of News. Washington. D.C.: Pew Research Center.

[jackdigitalmedia-blog]

Why Platform Capitalism is so successful on Instagram

 Platform capitalism means Instagram can recruit large amounts of people who work for themselves and can charge them for every advertisement. The wake of the 1990s saw internet-based companies shift “to business models that monetized the free resources available to them” (Srnicek, 2017, p.22). This saw a change in the way businesses were ran as Srnicek (2017) reports that in 1962 the most significant communication and media companies such as AT and T had a large number of employees (564,000) and when Instagram was bought in 2012 for $1billion they had only 13 employees, essentially they could have all worked in one office, having no fixed costs, meaning maximization of capital. Popularity of Instagram is also another factor which drives companies to spend money advertising on their site. Instagram is the fastest growing social media, of recent times with around 500 million users in 2016 and 1billion users in 2019 (Farquhar, 2019), and currently, the average price to advertise on Instagram is $0.70 compared to the average price on Facebook of $0.35 (Influencermarketinghub, 2019).  

But why is the price double since Facebook has more worldwide users (Statista, 2019)? Because according to Kowalczyk (2016) Instagram is “the most popular social media platform used to connect with celebrities” (p.2). Therefore, celebrities are a top tool for marketing products. Additionally, and more importantly, the amount of young people on Instagram is significantly higher than Facebook (Farquar, 2019) with the chart showing that 37.4% are age 13-24. This is significant as according to McCormick (2016) when their target audience is predominately younger people it is a bonus for brands because they look up to celebrities and want to “borrow aspects related to their identity from celebrities they admire” (p.3) and thus the process of self-construction can exemplify the celebrity to the consumers (Peter and Olson, 1996). Furthermore, according to Saxton (2007) younger people have shown an increased obsession in celebrities and pay attention to what they do Noble., et al (2009) found young people are focused on what products they use and what they wear. Thus, well-known celebrities with big followings on Instagram will be a jackpot for brands whose target market is a younger audience, this explains why advertising is a premium on Instagram. Instagram facilitates celebrity and young fan interaction.

Source: (Statista, 2019)

With no fixed costs and the enormous popularity of Instagram platform capitalism thrives for Instagram as a business model and through the high volume of young people using the app and the affinity for celebrities, the celebrities are a massive success as endorsers for brands. 

Word Count: 426

References

Farquhar, L. (2019). From Facebook to Instagram. Religion Online: How Digital Technology is Changing the Way We Worship and Pray, 27.

Influencer Marketing Hub. (2019). How Much Does it Cost to Advertise on Instagram?. [online] Available at: https://influencermarketinghub.com/how-much-does-it-cost-to-advertise-on-instagram/. 

Kowalczyk, C. M., & Pounders, K. R. (2016). Transforming  celebrities through social media: the role of authenticity and emotional  attachment. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 25(4),  345-356.

McCormick, K. (2016). Celebrity endorsements: Influence of a product-endorser match on Millennials attitudes and purchase intentions. Journal of retailing and consumer services, 32, 39-45.

Noble, S. M., Haytko, D. L., & Phillips, J. (2009). What drives college-age Generation Y consumers?. Journal of business research, 62(6), 617-628.

Peter, J. P., Olson, J. C., & Grunert, K. G. (1999). Consumer behaviour and marketing strategy (pp. 329-48). London: McGraw-Hill.

Saxton, G. (2005). Collections of cool. Young Consumers, 6(2), 18-27.

Statista. (2019). Global social media ranking 2019 | Statistic. [online] Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/ [Accessed 29 May 2019].

 Srnicek, N. (2017). Platform capitalism. John Wiley & Sons.

[jackdigitalmedia-blog]

Online Trolling in football transfer rumours.

Online trolling is typically thought of to be of a nature of offensiveness and generally being unpleasantries (Cheng., et al, 2017). However, what needs to also be considered is the troll who is creating fake news rather than a person who is merely commenting hurtful things. Football is the biggest sport in the world and one of the biggest attractions about the sport is the transfers from club to club, the value of the European transfer market is €5.6 billion as of summer 2017 (Uefa.com, 2018). When there is news about a transfer it will instantly become big news in the football world, what is difficult however is to distinguish whether it is true or not. Because fake news can start from anywhere and from anyone and then start gaining influence through shares on social media creating a big game of Chinese whispers which can amount to something that can appear true (Lazer, 2018). Football journalists are popular on sites like Twitter because they can “cover stories that the mainstream media often ignore” (Schultz & Sheffer, 2010, p.4). This craving for transfer news about the biggest players has however led to the rise of untrusted online news sources gaining popularity whereby on social media any account can produce unverified football content (Caled & Silva, 2018). This is because “news content is continuously published online, (and) the speed in which it is disseminated hinders human fact-checking activity” (Caled&Silva, 2018, p.1). A recent example of this is a fake account (LibertadDigital, 2018)(translated from Spanish) posing as a French journalist called Baptiste Ripart confirming Kylian Mbappe the French football stars move to Real Madrid for €272 million:

Then a statement from the clubs official website stated that :

“Given the information published in the last few hours regarding an alleged agreement between Real Madrid C.F. and PSG for the player Kylian Mbappé, Real Madrid would like to state that it is completely false.” 

(Source Real Madrid C.F-Web Oficial, 2018)

These lies once circulated enough times will be picked up from actual news stations and harm the brands such as Real Madrid were harmed here and thus had to put out a statement otherwise this had potential to upset PSG the club of Mbappe. Fake football news is an ongoing problem in football since the rise of social media since it gives everyone a voice including liars. Furthermore, these trolls thrive on the reactions of the ones whom they are distressing because for a troll the art of success is to get the fish to bite (Bishop, 2014). Consequently, the trolls get more success on transfer rumours because online news broadcasters will want to share these big stories in order to attract viewers to their site(see below). Because “It drives up advertising revenues for news websites desperate for visitors in the face of dying print editions” (Planetfootball, 2017, para. 18).

However awful this may seem fake news in football transfers is here to stay as according to planetfootball(2017) agents of players will encourage the fake news to continue and even entertain the rumours because it can raise their players profile which in turn means their transfer fee could augment. 

Trolls have an increased amount of power due to the rise of social media and when there is a medium which craves news as football transfers troll will be able to thrive. Due to interest from external source who have credibility such as news websites or football agents the power of the troll is reinforced and as shown football clubs have to respond in order to shut down the rumour which is a victory for the troll whose primary goal was to provoke a reaction.

Word Count: 609

References 

Bishop, J. (2014). Representations Of ‘Trolls’ In Mass Media Communication: A Review Of Media-Texts And Moral Panics Relating To ‘Internet Trolling’. International Journal of Web Based Communities, 7-24.

Caled, D., & Silva, M. J. (2018). FTR-18: Collecting rumours on football transfer news. arXiv preprint arXiv:1812.00778.

Cheng, J., Bernstein, M., Danescu-Niculescu-Mizil, C., & Leskovec, J. (2017, February). Anyone can become a troll: Causes of trolling behavior in online discussions. In Proceedings of the 2017 ACM conference on computer supported cooperative work and social computing (pp. 1217-1230). ACM.

Goal.com. (2019). Transfer news: 'We don't want Mbappe or Neymar' - Perez says Real Madrid haven't spoken to PSG | Goal.com. [online] Available at: https://www.goal.com/en-kw/news/we-dont-want-mbappe-or-neymar-perez-says-real-madrid-havent/1kqsw86xpn5f31l944h5rustea.

Lazer, D. M., Baum, M. A., Benkler, Y., Berinsky, A. J., Greenhill, K. M., Menczer, F., ... & Schudson, M. (2018). The science of fake news. Science, 359(6380), 1094-1096.

Libertad Digital. (2018). Un fantasma se mofa de la prensa deportiva espaola y hace trabajar al Real Madrid. [online] Available at: https://www.libertaddigital.com/deportes/liga/2018-07-04/una-cuenta-falsa-se-mofa-de-la-prensa-espanola-y-del-real-madrid-1276621549/ [Accessed 29 May 2019].

Planet Football. (2017). Fake transfer news and how the power of repetition creates belief - Planet Football. [online] Available at: https://www.planetfootball.com/in-depth/fake-transfer-news-power-repetition-creates-belief/ [Accessed 30 May 2019].

Real Madrid C.F. - Web Oficial. (2018). Official Announcement | Real Madrid CF. [online] Available at: https://www.realmadrid.com/en/news/2018/07/official-announcement-2?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=organico [Accessed 29 May 2019]. 

Schultz, B., & Sheffer, M. L. (2010). An exploratory study of how Twitter is affecting sports journalism. International Journal of Sport Communication, 3(2), 226-239.

Uefa.com. (2018). [online] Available at: https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/OfficialDocument/uefaorg/Clublicensing/02/53/00/22/2530022_DOWNLOAD.pdf [Accessed 29 May 2019].

[jackdigitalmedia-blog]

The history of video games has been defined by its social consequences, however it is necessary to look at its social benefits for those with ADHD

Video gaming has always had a negative stigma around it as Turkle (2011) states the result of “gaming has created social isolation” (p.177). But what if we could look at the social benefits to certain people in society rather than reflecting the negative social consequences.

To briefly describe ADHD, it has been commonly known as a mind that has trouble focusing. Focus is an essential cognitive feature which should not be taken for granted as according to Schatz (2006) not having focus can lead to anxiety because people with ADHD produce a lower amount of dopamine which is the pleasure signal of the brain. Additionally, meaning they are “less sensitive to rewards, ultimately making them feel bored or unstimulated by what may keep another individual entertained” (Youtube, 2016, segments 0.35-0.43), thus having an “aversion for delayed rewards” (Want., et al, 2017, p.2). In short, an ADHD brain is a brain which needs pressure in order to focus, one of the best ways to focus an ADHD brain is through video games (Shaw., et al, 2005), having ADHD this resonates strongly with me:

This can be better understood by the analogy given by Dr. Russell Barking “you must put the consequences in the now… this is what video games do and what homework does not” (Youtube, 2014, segments 5:45-53). Neurosciencenews (2018) found that video games enhance the brain’s ability to concentrate and improve visual selective attention. The most important factor of potentially why video games are so effective is because “ADHD is more commonly diagnosed in boys” (Mahone, 2012, p.2) and boys are the predominant users of video games compared to girls (King, 2009). King also found males play a lot more first-person shooters which are problem real-time strategy games because “Problem (video game) players report being motivated by extrinsic motivation for introjected regulation” (King, 2009, p.56). However, video game focus is not limited to boys, they are just predominant users so research will highlight male video game users. Video games can be accessible to anyone with ADHD which is explained best by this female ADHD Youtuber “one of the biggest reasons video games hold our attention so well is video games provide instant feedback” (see video below, segments 0.38-0.43) which is something that can instantly intrinsically motivate an ADHD individual which is core motivation to learn from mistakes, something that does not come naturally. 

 ADHD people need external motivation in the form of consequences or rewards in order to complete tasks, something that video games offer. When this external motivation to focus cannot be generated social skills will suffer because the ADHD cannot pay attention, meaning they will be disruptive, bossy and easily frustrated, (Ahmadi Olounabadi, 2015) behaviour that cannot sustain relationships. Additionally Modesto-Lowe (2008) found the ultimate drawback of the poor social skills ADHD people possess is peer rejection and “According to the National Resource Centre on ADHD, 50% to 60% of ADHD children cannot make healthy peer relationships” (Ahamdi Olonabadi, 2015, p.14)which can lead to anxiety, depression and low self-esteem.

Focus in general is an important social skill and people with ADHD cannot focus naturally unless under a situation of consequence and rewards. This has highlighted how important video games not just as a medium but the idea of reward and consequence can be to those who need motivation in order to live a fruitful life. This same system of real-time quick decision and instant feedback should be implemented in schools or workplaces to better help the social skills of ADHD people in day to day life.  

Word count: 570

References

Ahmadi Olounabadi, A. (2015). TARLAN: A Simulation Game to Improve Social Problem-Solving Skill of ADHD Children.

Mahone, E. M. (2012). Neuropsychiatric differences between boys and girls with ADHD. Psychiatric Times, 29(10), 1-7. 

King, D. L., & Delfabbro, P. (2009). Motivational differences in problem video game play. Journal of Cybertherapy and Rehabilitation, 2(2), 139-149. 

Modesto-Lowe, V., Danforth, J. S., & Brooks, D. (2008). ADHD: does parenting style matter?. Clinical pediatrics, 47(9), 865-872.

Neuroscience News. (2018). One Hour of Video Gaming Can Increase the Brain’s Ability to Focus. [online] Available at: https://neurosciencenews.com/focus-video-gaming-8513/ [Accessed 26 May 2019]. 

Schatz, D. B., & Rostain, A. L. (2006). ADHD with comorbid anxiety: a review of the current literature. Journal of Attention disorders, 10(2), 141-149.

Shaw, R., Grayson, A., & Lewis, V. (2005). Inhibition, ADHD, and computer games: The inhibitory performance of children with ADHD on computerized tasks and games. Journal of attention disorders, 8(4), 160-168.

Turkle, S. (2011).Alone Together: Why we expect more from technology and less from each other.  New York. Basic Books

Wang, B. Q., Yao, N. Q., Zhou, X., Liu, J., & Lv, Z. T. (2017). The association between attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and internet addiction: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC psychiatry, 17(1), 260.

YouTube. (2014). This is how you treat ADHD based off science, Dr Russell Barkley part of 2012 Burnett Lecture. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tpB-B8BXk0 [Accessed 30 May 2019].

YouTube. (2016). Is ADHD An Advantage?. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2EVEYmeSqg.

[jackdigitalmedia-blog]

Youtube the deliberative Public Sphere

Chau (2010) states Youtube was designed as a content sharing site and as a result, YouTube videos are viewed for information and shared for social interaction (Haridakis and Hanson, 2009). The videos shared are normally those which are entertaining, so the deliberative aspect is obvious and through sharing makes the view count of the videos augment rapidly normally called ‘viral videos’. Information ‘how to’ videos, on the other hand, do not offer the same aspect of sharing to make others laugh therefore portraying social behaviour but rather the comment section would be where users can deliberate anonymously. So, whether sharing a viral video with friends or discussing the video with fellow YouTubers, YouTube allows people to socialize on or off their platform.

One of the main factors as to why YouTube is such a popular form of deliberation is according to Khan (2017) due to the anonymity that it presents. According to Khan (2017) user participation is only available when one creates an account with a username which are “in many cases… distinct from individual name… (Henceforth) studies have shown the relationship between anonymity and the propensity to participate in the form of commenting” (p.4). Commenting is main mode of communication on Youtube and thus is much more social than a private message which is the most typical mode of interaction on Facebook (Acar, 2008). Thus “commentary on a video could stimulate closer social interactions” (Lange, 2007, p.376) demonstrating Youtube is a more social model than a typical social media site. 

One of the best things about YouTube is that it promotes engagement with the ‘dislike’ button something that no other social media sites use. This means that for businesses who market through YouTube for promotion of an upcoming project can use the feedback and online behaviour of the public and can see if they ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ the video and can act appropriately to this feedback. The dislike button phenomenon on Youtube “has given a greater degree of control to social media users… besides creating a sense of community.” (Khan, 2017, p.1) which is what other social media sites like Facebook and Twitter and renowned and defined by. As a recent example, this month a trailer for a film titled ‘Sonic’ was released and the video has 671k dislikes to 378k likes (see below).

The film was originally supposed to be released in theatres November 2019 but due to the negative feedback about the character sonic not looking like the original Sonic director Jeff Fowler posted this tweet (below), stating that the film will now be delayed until 2020 whilst they make adjustments to please the fans. 

This is a perfect example of how Youtube has worked as a deliberative public sphere in order to maintain a good relationship between the consumers and the creators which highlights just how important the dislike button can be. The dislike button phenomenon on Youtube “has given a greater degree of control to social media users… besides creating a sense of community.” (Khan, 2017, p.1) which is what other social media sites like Facebook and Twitter and renowned and defined by.

The anonymous aspect means users are more inclined to show their voice since there is no fear of judgment via commenting on public videos something that is not apparent on other social media sites (Cayari, 2011). The dislike button means the feedback will be authentic, which allows more deliberation and will lead to a better understanding of the brand. Which in the example of sonic means fans will be heard and excess money will be spent on pleasing them which highlights how powerful Youtube is for deliberation. These factors must explain its popularity of being the third most viewed site on the web (Alexa, 2016).

Word Count: 626

References

Acar, A. (2008). Antecedents and consequences of online social networking behavior: The case of Facebook. Journal of website promotion, 3(1-2), 62-83. 

Alexa. (2016).The top 500 sites on the web. Retrieved from:https://www.alexa.com/topsites

Cayari, C. (2011). The YouTube Effect: How YouTube Has Provided New Ways to Consume, Create, and Share Music. International Journal of Education & the Arts, 12(6), n6.

Chau, C. (2010). YouTube as a participatory culture. New directions for youth development, 2010(128), 65-74.

Haridakis, P., & Hanson, G. (2009). Social interaction and co-viewing with YouTube: Blending mass communication reception and social connection. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 53(2), 317-335.

Khan, M. L. (2017). Social media engagement: What motivates user participation and consumption on YouTube?. Computers in Human Behavior, 66, 236-247. 

Lange, P. G. (2007). Publicly private and privately public: Social networking on YouTube. Journal of computer-mediated communication, 13(1), 361-380.