Politicians, You Know You’d Better Watch Out

Posted on by April Rink

We know that Agenda-Setting Theory (McCombs and Shaw) says mass media decides what topics are salient, which ultimately sets the public’s agenda. McCombs and Shaw introduced this theory because of politics. Their original argument was “mass media set the agenda of issues for a political campaign by influencing the salience of issues among voters.”

Some people argue since social media has affected the notions of this theory. “Social media can be used as a tool by politicians and the public to communicate an agenda that, in turn, shapes the media agenda.”

In today’s world, journalists are searching social media for stories. Therefore, poor social media habits and decisions can become headlines. These negative headlines could damage the public’s perceptions of someone as a politician or public figure.

The best example for poor social media use is President Donald Trump’s Twitter. He is 100% influenced by mass media. He’s always reading the news and tweeting about it. His rude tweets often make headlines daily.

Other Twitter mistakes politicians have made are: Congressman Anthony Weiner accidentally tweeting a lewd photo of himself, Newt Gingrich hiring fake followers, and Yvette Clarke’s simple fact error about Abraham Lincoln.

Advice

  • Clean it up: Delete posts from your younger days or things that might be embarrassing. You have know idea what someone could find.
  • Be weary: As a public figure especially, you must always be cautious about what you share, say, like, or favorite.
  • Research your sources: If it’s from The Onion, as a politician, you can’t get away from sharing it.
  • Fact check!
  • Don’t name call or say rude things about another person. It ruins your credibility.
  • Proof read to make sure your tweet makes sense.
  • Be authentic

Don’t:

 

2 thoughts on “Politicians, You Know You’d Better Watch Out”

  1. I really like your title and how you used multiple examples of politician’s tweets to support your idea(s) of how government leaders should conduct themselves appropriately. Good work!

  2. Hi April,
    I like your post! Your advice and title are very attractive.And I agree your opinion about agenda-setting that the words from public figures on social media will shape the media agenda. Therefore, public figures should have a good sense of social responsibility. I think this is very important in the world of social media. Because everyone can become the publisher and influencer. In the connection, I think not only for politicians, but also other celebrities and media figures, because of thew high degree of attention and media attention they have, they should have social responsibility and self-censorship of the content they publish on social media.

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