Donald Trump has excelled in setting the agenda for politics. Using shock value, he has generated the conversation of the political spectrum and caused both the media and his fellow candidates to focus this conversation on not only the issues of his campaign, but his brash persona and off-kilter demeanor. Twitter has been just one of his tools in order to do so. In the opposing party, Bernie Sanders has done this as well. But, instead of setting the agenda, he has acted as a gatekeeper of his campaign information and used it as a tool to interact with supporters.
Donald Trump’s campaign method has been to say something sensational and then let the media and other influencers react. People have not only read and reacted to the material Trump has posted on Twitter, but written entire stories about them for news outlets.
One article, posted in June in the New York Daily News states in the headline “Here are some of the most ridiculous things Donald Trump as Tweeted.” While some of these tweets work to further the self-righteous persona Trump has created, others bring up campaign topics including U.S. relations with Iraq and Global Warming. So, while the New York Daily News’ article was meant to raise the problematic Twitter methods utilized by Trump, it has followed his agenda and circulated his campaign topics to readers.
Unlike Trump, Sanders is using Twitter not to set the agenda of the campaign but interact with followers. Similarly, he uses the social media platform to act as a gatekeeper of his campaign and the media has responded in tandem.
Although he is running for the democratic nomination, Sanders took advantage of the GOP Debates to gain coverage for his campaign and correspond with political followers. Sanders utilized a new campaign tool made possible by Twitter: live Tweeting the GOP debates. Beginning with the first debate, Sanders has Tweeted throughout the debate using the hashtag #debatewithbernie. This has been affected in not only gaining media coverage, his Tweeting made headlines along with participants in the GOP debates, but gained him followers as well. According to Forbes.com, Sanders gained 35,163 new followers following the Oct. 13 debate. This can be compared to his democratic opponents, who gained 32,219 followers combined.
Sanders Twitter activity has helped him gain a millennial following. As many millennials use social media as a tool for receiving information about politics, Sanders has utilized Twitter to allow him to be a gatekeeper and be in control of the way his information is filtered out to the public.
Sanders and Trump can learn from each other in the way that they manage their Twitter accounts. As Trump is the master agenda setter, Sanders needs to utilize Twitter as a platform to set political agendas and make as many headlines as trump. Trump, on the other hand, can craft a less controversial political personal by utilize Twitter as a tool to be the main gate keeper of his information and a way to interact with followers.