In 2022, Elon Musk made statements that shocked the Twitterverse that led to headlines like “Elon Musk thinks the population will collapse. Demographers say it’s not happening” and “Elon Musk says ‘population collapse’ is more dangerous than global warming. Experts say that won’t happen.” By now, Musk has taken these claims off X, formerly known […]
Tag: Twitter
Breaking the Silence Over Israel
The political and publish backlash that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) faced over her recent comments criticizing Israel and AIPAC shows a dire need for an active debate within Congress that would allow for legitimate criticism of Israel’s actions as well as serious discussion about anti-Semitic forces in the United States. The inability to foster a […]
The Commodification of Activism
When Nike revealed Colin Kaepernick, the former 49ers quarterback, to be the face of their new “Dream Crazy” marketing campaign, they drew a myriad of responses. Some took to social media to express their disbelief by burning all of their Nike gear, while others applauded the company for openly endorsing Kaepernick and his message. President […]
Search Engine Politics: How Algorithms are Creating Political Controversy
With new and emerging technologies including social media platforms and search engines, old problems are being brought to the forefront once again. One of those issues is political bias and it is an issue that is now being discussed, investigated, and debated in the halls of Congress. Discussing political bias, Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter […]
Saudi Arabia: A Modern Prince’s Unconventional Quest for Power
In an era where world leaders wield Twitter as their political weapon of choice, Saudi Arabia has initiated a sanctions war with Canada–culminating in the complete severing of relations between the two countries–on the basis of a single tweet. On the surface, this appears to be a bizarre overreaction by the Saudi government. Yet, in […]
Double-Edged Sword: The Weaponization of the Digital Landscape and its Impacts on American Democracy
By Alexander Casendino Breakthroughs typically arise from strange beginnings. In his early years as a student at Harvard, Mark Zuckerberg had no clue that he would forever change the world upon launching the “hot or not” website, FaceMash. The same concepts and software behind Zuckerberg’s sophomoric project would later be applied to the social media […]
Trump’s Twitter Regime: Empowering the People, Killing the Press
The president and the press are entrenched in a strenuous game of cat and mouse. It’s a trial of wits in which each president seeks to promote their version of factual truths to the populace without interference from the press. This media avoidance has been practiced throughout history in notable ways: Franklin D. Roosevelt’s fireside […]
The United States… And Territories: America’s Paradise Lost
On October 13, one news headline stood out among the rest: “Trump says he spoke to U.S. Virgin Islands’ ‘president’ — which is him.” “Must’ve been a one-sided conversation,” one Twitter user noted. The Daily Show put out a video of Trump shaking hands with his “genetic replica.” This hilarity momentarily puts a spotlight on […]
Fake News is Real: The Rise of Computational Propaganda and Its Political Ramifications
“Fake News” — two words that have become synonymous with Donald Trump and his 2016 bid for the presidency. Some wholeheartedly believed it, some cast it aside as irrelevant, and others avidly denied it. Yet, President Trump was right. Fake news is real, but not necessarily in the way that most imagine. In the 2016 election, […]
A Dance with the Devl(in): Insight to the Fracturing of the Berkeley College Republicans and How It’s Still Dangerous
Note: The views in this article are those of the author alone, and do not represent the views of any organization in any official capacity. Even to outsiders, it is hard to miss the drama surrounding the Berkeley College Republicans that has drawn national attention by inviting controversial speakers and giving rise to protests that […]