I can't believe SexWarrior would be naïve enough to think Trump is posting "for the lulz". It is pretty obvious that he tweets to control media narratives or misdirect attention away from other things, and as such it is important to pay attention to his tweets even when they are shitposts.
Well, you'd be right, given that I explicitly stated this:
Taking Trump's Twitter ramblings as official statements from the campaign is nuts. He's trolling the shit out of everyone, and people giving it legitimacy means he can use it as a distraction tactic.
Trekky, you're not responding to what I'm saying. You've built a strawman around the idea of "people shouldn't take @realdonaldtrump seriously" and filled in the gaps in your understanding of my position with your own imagination. That's no way to reach a constructive dialogue. If you want to dismantle my position, you have to read it first, and if there are things I haven't sufficiently clarified, please ask.
Twitter, like any sort of medium, can be used both for shitposting and for serious communication. The White House uses Twitter seriously, and Trump can too.
He
can, but he
isn't. Breitbart and BuzzFeed
can engage in ethical journalism, but they
don't. Fox News
can give due credibility to both sides of the political discourse, but they
don't. How a medium
can be used doesn't necessarily translate into how a medium
is used.
Say some of what Trump posts is shitposting nonsense, which yea, it probably is. But by his own admission, he also uses Twitter for serious communication to supporters and the public alike, so it is best to assume what he says there is serious unless shown otherwise precisely because he is the president. If he says something serious, and we assume its shitposting, he has power other trolls do not to enact his intentions on a global scale.
Does he? Unless he pulls an Obama and starts issuing executive orders left and right, I don't see how he does. Trump is not Congress.
Also, you underestimate the power of a well-fed troll.
he's the goddamn president, and his words have consequences on the global stage.
Yeah, thanks, MSM. Here's hoping we can fix that mess, with or without you.