Would Past Presidents Use Social Media?

   Social media has become so mainstream that it is no longer a shock when our president uses Twitter to announce events pertaining to our country. President Obama became the first president to use Twitter to openly respond to a question. The question remains of how does the age of social media change our perception of governmental leaders. It is quite amusing to think about how distant past presidents would have used social media, especially Twitter.
   We can imagine that Thomas Jefferson would be live tweeting the Louisiana Purchase or that FDR may use Twitter as American propaganda. It is also interesting to think about how social media creates a platform in which things often get dismissed. Would JFK's "Ask not" sentiment have the same effect on our nation if it was delivered through social media? What about Ronald Raegan's tear down the wall speech? These are monumental moments in our country's history, but when they are boiled down to the 144 characters that Twitter allows.
   Not all of the news spread by presidents through social media would have been positive. If we started the social media age in a time when presidents were more responsible, there would be more respect centered around their use of websites like Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. However, there is no telling how they would have utilized social media if it existed when they were in office. It is funny to imagine that single-term presidents would have been MySpace kinds of people, or that certain presidents may post a Snapchat story of them in a conference or just their everyday work.


Reference: https://www.forbes.com/sites/petersuciu/2020/02/17/how-past-presidents-might-have-used-social-media/#2cdb59571368