Donald Trump and the 'Modern' Twitter Presidency

Earlier this summer, in response to mounting criticism that his use of social media was unpresidential, Donald Trump took to his favorite social media platform to confirm that his tweeting habit was indeed not presidential but "modern presidential."

My use of social media is not Presidential - it's MODERN DAY PRESIDENTIAL. Make America Great Again!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 1, 2017

He's not wrong. Though his use of Twitter to fire off personal attacks, less-than-true statements, and typo-ravaged missives is unstatesmanlike, Trump's use of social media to foster a direct, transparent connection with his base is something US voters should probably expect from future presidents. Brands and celebs are accessible on social media; why not world leaders?

For better or worse, Trump has upended how US presidents connect with Americans. The good news is that doesn't necessarily mean we're destined for a covfefe'd future where politicians are rewarded for being crude and insulting.

"I think he's unlocked and unleashed something. And I think the gloves will be a little looser. But I think he's a unique personality who grew up in New York City tabloid culture, who was in real estate—which is a notoriously corrupt business that doesn't really care for people and that's full of backroom deal and other dirt—that's a singular kind of personality. And a reality TV star on top of all that. I don't think we're going to get this alignment again," according to "futurist comedian" Baratunde Thurston, who stopped by PCMag's offices to talk about technology's impact on society for our interview series The Convo.

A self-described "super nerd," Thurston knows a thing or two about modern communication, particularly the kind that occurs on the internet. Not only is he a best-selling author, tech columnist, and noted public speaker, but he's the former digital producer for The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and former director of digital for The Onion.

While Thurston doesn't necessarily think we'll see a personality this "extreme" again in the White House, he says future presidents will use social media to reveal a picture of the operator behind the curtain.

"To try to give this 45th president some credit, he changed the game. He pulled very few punches. He was in many ways a bully. 'Little Marco' or 'Low-Energy Jeb.' That's literally childish. It almost gives children a bad name," Thurston says. "But there was a refreshingness to it—even to those of us disgusted by it because it clearly wasn't managed. It clearly wasn't put through five layers of consultants."

According to Thurston, the more interesting part of Trump's digital story isn't his in-your-face style on social media, it's the story of how he rose to power in the first place with the help of the internet.

"Part of what the internet has done—and this is exciting and terrifying—it just breaks every institution that we've ever had. Think of Napster and the music industry. The music industry had this vice grip on artists, the price of CDs, on the listeners, on radio stations. And now it's a free-for-all. SoundCloud, Mixcloud, Spotify. More people listen to music on YouTube than on the radio. Then now look at banking—now we have bitcoin, Venmo, PayPal Square Cash, Apple Pay. So, banks are threatened."

The internet is the most reliably disruptive tool humans have ever developed—and the latest institution to crack under its pressure may very well be centralized party politics. Donald Trump's presidency is only possible because the internet broke things apart before he got there.

Just as the internet disintegrated the once-might music industry, thus clearing the way for an unsigned artist to win multiple Grammys, a political outsider came in through the side door and hacked the ruins of another once-impenetrable institution.

"Trump was not supposed to be the nominee. That party didn't want him. He came from the outside—in heavy part because of Reddit and 4chan and Twitter—and a little bit of Facebook and Instagram. Without the internet, Trump would not be president," Thurston says. "The internet has this ability to break apart incumbent institutions of any kind of concentrated power.

"And we're seeing politicians emerging from this new field. So the same way that we're finding artists who don't rise through the major labels, or banking products that aren't products of Bank of America, we're going to start to see politicians that aren't products of the Democratic or Republican parties."

If you're not a fan of the president, the prospect of a future of Donald Trumps may seem frightening. But even for his most ardent detractors, there is room for optimism and excitement. Trump helped create a template: He came from the outside and used the power of ubiquitous digital communication to rise to power. Take solace that somewhere out there, there's some disruptive candidate who will be able to speak to you and your particular political tribe. And chances are, he or she might only be a few clicks away.

The Convo is PCMag's interview series hosted by features editor Evan Dashevsky (@haldash). Each episode is broadcast live on PCMag's Facebook page, where viewers are invited to ask guests questions in the comments. Episodes are then posted on our YouTube page and available as an audio podcast, which you can subscribe to on iTunes or the podcast platform of your choice.