The first televised debate in the history of American elections dates back to September 26, 1960. Americans then discovered two candidates who were polar opposites: John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Richard Nixon. Thanks to television, the former gave the image of a handsome, well-groomed man, full of ease in gestures and speech; the latter gave the image of an uncomfortable man disadvantaged by a five o’clock shadow that made him look austere. Yet Nixon was much more convincing in his arguments, according to a survey of Radio of America listeners who heard the same program broadcast on television. More than half a century after these elections, Twitter, Facebook, and Google have replaced radio and “almost” television. We remember how President Obama seduced young Americans in 2008 on social networks.
The next elections scheduled for November will be elections of all records: the most expensive in the world, they will pit the two least popular candidates in the history of American elections (Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump) against each other.
These elections are also those of social networks and we will see in this article how Google, Facebook, and Twitter are manufacturing the most powerful President in the world.
Money falls from the “Net”:
To finance their campaigns, both candidates call on donors on specialized platforms. Hillary Clinton has already raised more than 100 million dollars thanks to the famous “super packs” but also thanks to small donors. An insufficient sum to reach the gates of the White House. She is also increasing calls for donations at every meeting and now relies on the unwavering support of Obama and her former rival Bernie Sanders.
As for Donald Trump, he is renouncing financing his campaign from his own funds and is calling on the Republican Party, which has just granted him its official and almost unanimous support.
Hillary Clinton ridicules Donald Trump on his favorite ground “Twitter”
On Twitter, a hard battle opposes the two official candidates for the White House.
The former Secretary of State’s tweet to her Republican rival: “Delete your account” from June was retweeted more than 50,000 times within a few hours: a record for a political tweet. According to campaign observers, the Democratic candidate is going on the offensive. She is changing her tone on social networks and conquering Twitter. The tweet in question is the same as that used by teenagers in 2008: a kind of insult because “delete your account” is addressed to a person you don’t like and whom you wish to no longer see on the social network.
YouTube or Hillary Clinton’s Achilles’ heel
On YouTube and despite all her efforts, the former First Lady struggles to impose herself and daily faces all kinds of insults and criticism from the Republican camp. An army of internet users from the Trump campaign is even reportedly dedicated to weakening Hillary Clinton on YouTube in particular. In contrast, Donald Trump’s videos break viewing and “like” records, led by videos of insults toward Mexicans, women, journalists, and Muslims.
Google accused of favoritism by Republicans.
The latest move by Republicans is to accuse Google of manipulating search results in favor of Hillary Clinton so as to make favorable links appear first. Google retorted immediately, recalling that its algorithm depends on requests expressed by internet users. According to Google, search results vary according to the interest of each user, and these results can vary from one country to another.
Facebook accused of being pro-Democrat
Mark Zuckerberg invited, last May, to Facebook headquarters, Fox News star Glenn Beck, a consultant to Donald Trump, and other heavyweights of the American right. On the discussion agenda: ensuring that Facebook remains as open as possible to all opinions. This was to stop rumors and demand the neutrality of his social network.
Meanwhile, the Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton seems to have won the hearts of four million fans on Facebook. Her rival, Trump, has double that, but his publications are not as popular as those of the former First Lady.
“The winner of the battle of social networks will be the winner of the elections”
With less than 100 days to the presidential elections, tempers are flaring on the ground and on social networks. To win these elections, attentive observers of American political life advise the former New York senator to use her elbows and face the real estate mogul on his own ground, but others advise against it for fear of falling into his trap. One thing is certain: The winner of the battle of social networks will be the winner of the elections.
Kamel SOUIG
