Discussion»Questions»History» Was President Abraham Lincoln's telegraph usage in the 1860s perceived similarly to President Donald Trump's twitter usage in 2017? ~
Ha, ha, methink no. The telegraph was more the equivalent to a satellite phone and used for urgent messaging, both practical and efficient, NOT whimsical chat.
This post was edited by O-uknow at March 17, 2017 4:45 AM MDT
No. Its more akin to the Pres picking up the phone to speak to someone to relay a necessary message over distance. Since there were no phones in his dsy the telegraph was the only way to communicate with someone semi-quickly over a distance. Your only other choice was having a courier or some other person carry your message, which literally took days, weeks or even months. To send a telegrah cost money and required someone experienced in Morse code on both ends to send and interpret it. And then the telegraph office on the other end had to find the person meant to recieve the message. Thats if the telegraph lines werent damaged in between and the message got there at all. During the Civil War soldiers on both sides deliberately cut lines, as did native americans once they realise what the lines meant. Then there were storms and animals, westher, etc. The telegraph was not used lightly or frivolously as Trump uses twitter.
probably not.. but..he was well enough known before becoming president he could be called a celebrity....and we all know what attention whores they are. plus..he really doesn't get a fair shake with the media....id probably use twitter too...let people think about what I said rather than the way the media twisted it...if they mentioned it at all. I know theres a lot of so called news that I don't bother with because they only cover and twist what they want you to think....its all biased....no need to have an opinion, they'll do your thinking for you...to "inform" about what they want you to agree with.
This post was edited by maggie at March 17, 2017 7:14 AM MDT
I wouldn't use Twitter. There are better alternatives to get his message out. He could podcast. He could have his staff interview him from the White House news room independent of mainstream media.
possibly..but he gets his point out quickly. and a lot of people tweet...I don't but from what I hear its a lot like instant messaging...and he gets it out immediately to how ever many people that happen to be following him on twitter at any given time. short and sweet. also he would be able to get responses from real people...not just the chosen few. ( I could be wrong on this point, im just assuming. if its like messaging then he could.)
This post was edited by maggie at March 17, 2017 7:47 AM MDT
maggie 