Commentary

Commander-in-Tweets? Not So Much: Data Reveals Twitter Wear-Out

We may never know the extent to which Twitter helped him get elected and/or maintain a following from his base, but the President of the United States’ Twitter engagement appears to have, well, hit the wall.

Analyses released this morning by “Morning Joe” economic analyst Steven Rattner show the President’s Twitter interactions -- the percentage of his followers that either retweet or “like” his tweets — has plummeted since he was elected.

The number of interactions declined from 55 per thousand followers in November 2016 to just 16 per thousand most recently.

While Rattner’s analysis doesn’t cite Madison Avenue principles, such as reach and frequency or “wear-out,” it appears the President’s primary direct-to-consumer communications channel is suffering from the principle of oversaturation.

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As his level of engagement declines, the President’s frequency has soared — from an average of six tweets per day during his first six months in office to an average of 13 tweets per day during the most recent six months to 20 per day in the past month.

Rattner posed "the question of whether people are still paying as much attention to his tweets” on this morning’s “Morning Joe,” adding that while his Twitter interactions have been plummeting, the President has tripled the frequency of his tweeting.

“We’re in season seven of ‘Celebrity Apprentice,” quipped “Morning Joe” co-anchor Willie Geist, adding that “people are just tuning out at this point.”

Rattner also cited data revealing a notable shift in the President's Twitter messaging pre- and post- release of the Mueller Report.

The number of times the President has tweeted "no collusion" and "no obstruction" have soared, ostensibly because his messaging isn't getting the same bang per tweet.

1 comment about "Commander-in-Tweets? Not So Much: Data Reveals Twitter Wear-Out".
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  1. Ed Papazian from Media Dynamics Inc, May 29, 2019 at 10:33 a.m.

    One would think that a "genius," as Trump so often claims to be, would take note of such data--even if it comes from "enemies of the country"--- and check it out. TV advertisers often "rest" overly used commercials and substitute  new ones from their commercial pools, as opposed to saying the same thing over and over in exactly the same manner. As for wear out, the solution---albeit a partial one----is to either develop a new positioning strategy or to say whatever you wish clearly---but less often.

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