Love him or hate him, Donald Trump is a master when it comes to social media. The role of social media in this year's presidential race is quite fascinating even for those who hate politics. Many GOP and Democratic candidates have dedicated staff who manage their Twitter and Facebook pages but Trump has taken a different approach on how he wants to handle his media compared to other candidates. No other presidential candidate has mastered the art of using social media as much as Trump has. He is no stranger to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vine or YouTube. He understands how to break through the cluttered media environment to gain trust, popularity and support. This real-estate magnate is wealthy, arrogant and in-your-face, but ultimately Trump's social media strategy may win him the biggest seat in the House. .
Many tactics have led Trump to be the Republican front-runner in every Grand Old Party poll taken so far. He brilliantly connects with his voters by making inflammatory, controversial views and statements to catch the media's attention, and it's working. In just five years, Trump's Twitter followers increased from 300,000 to over six million. Trump's tweets are all unscripted and written by the man himself, on just about anything that will cause controversy. Anything is fair game; whether it's his controversial comments about Mexicans or Muslim immigration, Megyn Kelly or slamming Fox News. Trump understands that if you tweet controversial statements, the media will keep playing the role of supporting his campaign even if they don't like him. It's a win-win for everyone. The nature of Twitter catered to exactly what Trump needed as a tool to promote his campaign. A social media cite with 140 characters max, making it easy for him to create headline material. The media gets the ratings and Trump gains more followers. In September 2015, the Media Research Council estimated that CNN Prime Time shows discussed Trump 78% of the time, and this was when it was still a 17 person race1.
