Contemporary Presidency: Going Public in an Era of Social Media: Tweets, Corrections, and Public Opinion

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 o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Presidential studies quarterly 2021-03, Vol.51 (1), p.151-165
Main Authors: Christenson, Dino P., Kreps, Sarah E., Kriner, Douglas L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
corrections
Efficacy
Going public
Mass media effects
Partisanship
Polarization
Political parties
Presidents
Public opinion
Social media
Social networks
Unilateralism
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0360-4918
1741-5705
DOI:10.1111/psq.12687