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Contemporary Presidency : Going Public in an Era of Social Media: Tweets, Corrections, and Public Opinion
Author(s) -
Christenson Dino P.,
Kreps Sarah E.,
Kriner Douglas L.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
presidential studies quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.337
H-Index - 5
eISSN - 1741-5705
pISSN - 0360-4918
DOI - 10.1111/psq.12687
Subject(s) - presidency , pulpit , presidential system , public opinion , political science , social media , politics , polarization (electrochemistry) , public relations , subject (documents) , mass media , political action , media studies , public administration , sociology , law , history , chemistry , archaeology , library science , computer science
Presidents invariably use the bully pulpit to push a political agenda, but whether this leads to political success in advancing that agenda has long been the subject of debate. The increased reliance on social media has renewed that debate, particularly in light of new policies that flag or remove objectionable presidential content. This research conducts a survey experiment that evaluates the effect of presidential tweets on support for executive policies, including proposed unilateral action, and studies the effect of social media corrections of those tweets. We find little evidence that social media appeals move public opinion overall, although they do increase support among Republicans. Corrections generally worked as intended among Democrats but backfired among Republicans, canceling each other out in the aggregate. The findings offer important insights into the efficacy of going public on social media and of corrections to such claims in an era of stark partisan polarization.