Part of Trump’s massive Twitter meltdown this morning consisted of conspiracy theories toting the idea that social media platforms, most specifically Trump’s favorite of the bunch Twitter, were discriminating against him and other conservative users, but mostly him of course — claiming that his following is much lower than he feels it should be because the platform is removing users “off the list.”
“The best thing ever to happen to Twitter is Donald Trump.” @MariaBartiromo So true, but they don’t treat me well as a Republican. Very discriminatory, hard for people to sign on. Constantly taking people off list. Big complaints from many people. Different names-over 100 M…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 23, 2019
…..But should be much higher than that if Twitter wasn’t playing their political games. No wonder Congress wants to get involved – and they should. Must be more, and fairer, companies to get out the WORD!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 23, 2019
To take this hissy fit a step further, POTUS ended up demanding a meeting with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Dorsey obliged and gave Donald a thirty-minute window to air his grievances.
Trump used up his half-hour complaining about a multitude of issues he takes with the social media platform. But according to a report for the Washington Post, the president spent most of his time whining about his follower count.
“A significant portion of the meeting focused on Trump’s concerns that Twitter quietly, and deliberately, had removed some of his followers, according to a person with direct knowledge of the conversation who requested anonymity because it was private. Trump said he had heard from fellow conservatives who had lost followers as well,” the Post report read.
There have been calls to action across social media platforms for several days now, calling for Donald to be held to the same community standards as the rest of the world and have his account suspended and penalized for inciting violence.
But after Dorsey’s meeting with the president wrapped up, Donald sent out a tweet leading us to believe that he ultimately got what he wanted, which certainly doesn’t bode well for us.
Donald posted a photo of the meeting with the caption, “Great meeting this afternoon at the @WhiteHouse with @Jack from @Twitter. Lots of subjects discussed regarding their platform, and the world of social media in general. Look forward to keeping an open dialogue!”
Great meeting this afternoon at the @WhiteHouse with @Jack from @Twitter. Lots of subjects discussed regarding their platform, and the world of social media in general. Look forward to keeping an open dialogue! pic.twitter.com/QnZi579eFb
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 23, 2019
If Trump did ultimately get pacified by the Twitter CEO today, that could mean pretty bad news for the rest of us, including potential algorithm changes to include more conservative and hateful activity or other platform alterations.
Let’s just hope, for this one instance, that Donald has another Twitter fit brewing and was just a little too strung out on his happy meds when he posted this one.
Featured image via DC Tribune gallery
