Markets Watch Trump Tweets

Terry Flanagan, marketsmedia.com

Usher from article

Excerpt:

A politician needs two things to be an influential tweeter: a sense of authenticity to the tweets, i.e. that s/he is the one tweeting, and a sizable following. That’s according to Nikki Usher, assistant professor of media and public affairs at George Washington University.

“As for the back and forth between heads of state and the conduct of diplomacy over Twitter, it’s amazing in this speed respect, that you don’t need to have a summit with Mexico if the Mexican president is tweeting his country’s position,” Usher said. “So diplomacy — or at least public diplomacy — stands to move more quickly than ever. That could be pretty scary.”

“Everything is a lot faster, which gives politicians a distinct advantage because they can get out their perspectives without having to be first vetted by members of the media,” she continued. “So the question is, why wouldn’t you engage this way?”