Twitter Update 12/12/16
By: Jennie Yu
So. We’re into week three of this scintillating election, and I just wanted to start off by putting this out there:
Yes, this was so good that I made an executive editor-in-chief decision to retweet. As fast as possible. Because let’s face it, there’s no better way to describe the candidate's’ Twitter activity so far than this image. Between Shiman’s scathing digital attacks directed at Han and Han’s scathing digital attacks directed at the media (*gasp* how dare she!) the savagery so far has been unparalleled. Could we even be approaching Trump-level controversiality? Let’s take a closer look.
Shiman and Rones have been going back-and-forth on Twitter repeatedly, over issues ranging from speechwriting and delivery, as seen above, to healthcare and what Shiman has dubbed “Trumponomics” on Rones’ part. Of all the candidates, it’s fair to say that Shiman has also been the one to post the most questionable tweets so far, including several that have been deleted: “Su Han has no ideas and no charisma, so she devotes her whole speech to attacking other candidates.” “Su Han claiming I’m corrupt to distract from her own mod [sic] connections.” He also released this poll:
Don’t get me wrong, GNN is *lowkey salty* at Han for accusing us of having “fake sources” (come on, they were obviously legit! Just go watch Sean’s Weekly Update video #2; the evidence is irrefutable! Mob ties!) But, we don’t condone these types of personal attacks on candidates, and it’s pretty clear that FEC Derenberger feels the same way:
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Just a PSA to all: there’ll be actual consequences for mean-spirited Twitter attacks from now on. FEC Derenberger sees all. He knows all. (*insert ominous music here*)
And then we have Rones and his campaign team, who swear they didn’t give him the password to the Twitter account. But nevertheless, he’s still maintaining a pretty substantial presence online, firing back at Shiman with his own sassy retorts and calling out Han (while getting her name wrong) on her alleged connection to mob ties.
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(Yes Rones!! You USE those Whitman Drama skills!!)
Twitter is Rones’ main form of interaction with his constituency, he said in an interview. However, he strangely hasn’t used it to address his scandal at all. He’s accused of embezzling the SGA’s bRAVE funds to purchase a 15-foot portrait of his face; however, there have been exactly zero (count them, zero) tweets about his reasons, motives…
Ponder that one.
Moving on to candidate O’Halloran! With her catchy slogan-turned-hashtag, #ihollerforohalloran, this unsuspecting candidate has begun to put herself out there on Twitter with this tweet:
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#iconic is supposed to allude to the “classic politician,” always involved in some kind of scandal, O’Halloran said in an interview. However, this is the saltiest she’s been to-date on social media, which places her in the same tame category as Du and Memon, who doesn’t even have a Twitter. But in many ways, O’Halloran’s absence of Twitter scandal portrays her as a down-to-earth candidate who is able to stick to her values, even under the peer pressure to attack her fellow candidates! Something to think about.
Oh and finally, there’s Han, who has a Twitter.
Surprised? We were too. With no followers and following no one, Han’s account is drastically removed from the rest of Period 7’s political world. Purposeful? Maybe. But nevertheless, Han’s tweeted some things that could potentially incite some Twitter feuds. That’s up to you all to decide. I’m just going to leave this here.
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You already know how I feel about the second one. (*shakes head*)
This has been the first Twitter Update, courtesy of GNN’s Editor-In-Chief! Check back soon for another, and remember: we came, we saw, we tweeted. ;)
