Tag: twitter
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Trump lambasts Amazon over taxes, jobs
On Tuesday, Trump inflamed tensions over a deadly rally by white nationalists in the town by insisting those counter protesters were also to blame, drawing condemnation from some Republican leaders and praise from white supremacists.
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Trump victim of social media ridicule after gibberish tweet
Social media was trying to make sense of Donald Trump early Wednesday, after a nonsensical late-night tweet set off a storm of jokes about the U.S. president.
The Twitter post, sent shortly before midnight local time, reads “inspite the negative press covfefe,” in an apparent reference to the press coverage that Trump has often derided as “fake news.”
The post was still available more than three hours after it appeared on his feed and no clarification has been given.
Using the hashtag “covfefe,” Twitter users speculated over the reasons behind the tweet. Was the president tired? Or drunk? Or had he perhaps just given away a secret nuclear code?
Taking aim at Trump’s controversial relations with Russia, one woman on Twitter quipped that she had translated #covfefe into Russian, attaching a doctored image that showed the gibberish word to be a translation of “I resign.”
Before long, the word had its own Urban Dictionary definition: “When you want to say ‘coverage’ but your hands are too small to hit all the letters on your keyboard.”
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Trump: Twitter as bully-pulpit
SIR: There is no gainsaying the fact that US President – Donald Trump has taken the use of social media to new heights. While previous presidents were known to have gone directly to the media to get their message out, Trump has turned to Twitter as his favourite medium. Throughout his campaign he used twitter to share his opinions with the American public, and it is a practice he has continued since his ascension to power.
The New York Times actually carried out an analysis of Trump’s tweets from June to October 2016. An astonishing 281 tweets were found in this short period of time to be nothing but insults to people, and even things. During this period, Trump posted an insult about every 42 hours.
On the other hand, it is unwise to ignore his tweets because that will definitely have consequences. For example, Trump tweeted in January about Toyota motors: “Build plant in U.S, or pay big border tax”. I bet Toyota motors thought it was just “a tweet “. Eventually Toyota’s stock promptly fell, as has the stock of other companies caught in Trump’s twitter crosshair. Because his tweets move markets, businesses are developing strategies on how to handle a Presidential social media attack. Subsequently, there is even an app that lets one know when Trump has tweeted negatively about a publicly traded company.
Something similar is happening in foreign policy, South Korea has a military officer tasked with the responsibility of monitoring Trump’s tweets and assessing what it means for Asia.
Trump’s Twitter activity has confounded not just the media and U.S. officials, but also foreign governments. Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency, recently declared, in reference to Trump, that “An obsession with ‘Twitter foreign policy’ is undesirable.
The idea that Trump’s tweets can be ignored is based on a facile distinction between words and action. But a president’s words are themselves a form of action, because words spoken in high office carry great weight. This is perhaps even more true of an unconventional leader like Trump, whose words set his agenda because he’s not driven by party orthodoxy or a coherent ideology. As Trump’s former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, told Washington Post, “Donald Trump’s Twitter account is the greatest bully pulpit that has ever existed. In 140 characters, he can change the direction of a Fortune 100 company, he can notify world leaders and he can also notify government agencies that business as usual is over.”
Like them or not, Trump’s tweets are consequential. You can only ignore them at your own peril. “The medium is the message,” Marshall McLuhan argued a half-century ago. Today, we can take this further by saying the man and medium have merged: Trump’s presidency and his tweets are one.
- Ejidike Chibuzor,
Dutse Alhaji, Abuja.
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Fraud: Kano Emir disowns Instagram, Facebook, Twitter accounts
The Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, has disowned social media accounts opened in his name.
Sanusi said in a statement that on Friday in Kano that he never authorised any person or organisation to open Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or any other social media account nor post any message on his behalf.
The traditional ruler spoke through his Chief of Staff, Alhaji Munir Sanusi.
He explained that this should put to rest series of calls and enquiries to the office of the Emir on some purported malicious and fake social media accounts in the name of the monarch.
Sanusi noted that the current development is coming after an earlier advertorial disclaiming a fake Facebook and Twitter accounts created in the name of his Highness.
He lamenting that the fraudsters have remained unrelenting in their nefarious acts.
“We have officially notified the administrators of the fake Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and other social media accounts requesting that the accounts be closed immediately in addition to detecting the identity of the culprits.
“It is important to reiterate that the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, has persistently stood for the unity of the nation regardless of its diversity.
“He always emphasise the need for tolerance and respect for one another.”
Sanusi assured that his principles as a traditional ruler and religious leader would be meticulously safeguarded and warned the fraudsters to desist forthwith or face the consequences of their action.
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EFCC cautions group over Twitter allegation
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday cautioned a pro-democracy advocacy group, Nigerian Wailers, over an allegation on Twitter.
The group had alleged in a tweet that the commission had assisted a popular lawyer, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), to acquire a N1 billion home in Abuja.
“Falana Acquires 1 Billion Naira Maitama Home With Help of EFCC,’’ it said via its handle @NGRWailers.
The commission responded almost immediately through its handle @officialEFCC, urging the Nigerian Wailers to tread with caution.
It said, “When you are invited to substantiate your claims, you will scream blue murder and then behave like your name. Please exercise caution.’’
The exchanges generated hilarious comments from other Twitter users, some of whom urged the EFCC to hold the group accountable for the “falsehood’’.
One Uche Jegbefume reacted via @jaustinuche with the photograph of a man in tears accompanied with the question, “Somebody cannot just joke with you?’’.
Another user, Chukwuemeka Nwosu, suggested that the group was only trying to gain publicity by its action.
“Some Nigerians love to be in the news. But when asked to illuminate their views they claim to have terminal illness,’’ he said.
Tweeting via @akeem_nosiru, one Akeem Nosiru urged the commission to deal with “@NGRWailers for perpetrating falsehood’’.
On its website, the Nigerian Wailers described itself as a community of people promoting the “citizens’ democracy’’.
“This is the pro-democracy platform that connects the people and the government through a reportage of activities of the government and demand for good governance,’’ it said.(NAN)
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Twitter suspends 636,000 accounts
Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) said on Tuesday it had suspended 636,000 accounts since the middle of 2015 as the company steps up efforts to tackle “violent extremism” on its microblogging platform.
The company shut down a total of 376,890 accounts in the last six months of 2016, Twitter said in its latest transparency report.
Twitter also said it had started taking legal requests to remove content posted by verified journalists and media outlets.
Twitter said it had received 88 such requests, but had not taken any action on the majority of these requests.
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Trump: ‘I think I should keep Twitter going’
U.S. President Donald Trump has hinted his supporters that he will keep tweeting as president.
A Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Trump had at one of his Presidential Inaugural Balls on Friday night, asked the audience if he “should keep the Twitter going”.
“Let me ask you, should I keep the Twitter going or not?
“Keep it going? I think so.
“Because the enemies keep saying ‘Oh, that’s terrible’.
“But it’s a way of bypassing dishonest media,” Trump asked the crowd, who cheered in affirmation.
Trump also talked about how he broke all the analyses against him and went on to win the presidency.
According to him, he knew for a long time that he would win.
“I knew that I would win; about four weeks to the election, I knew that we would win.”
He explained his campaign team’s strategy to win the election, disclosing that two weeks to the poll, they had 42 rallies adding, “incredible!”
The president said his support base was no longer just supporters but “a movement”.
“This (Make America Great Again!) is an incredible movement.
“I mean, the world has never seen something like this before.
“There is nothing like this anywhere in the world,” the president said.
He also said that he would bring jobs back to America again.
“The jobs are already coming back. Can’t you see it?” Trump asked the cheering crowd.
According to him, even those who did not like him had told him after the inauguration that “it was incredible!”
Trump, a Republican, was inaugurated on Friday as the 45th president, succeeding former president Barack Obama, a Democrat. (NAN)
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Pogba is first EPL player to have twitter emoji
Manchester United star Paul Pogba made history on Friday afternoon by becoming the first player in Premier League history to get his very own Twitter emoji.
An image of the £89million summer signing from Juventus can now be activated on the social media platform by adding ‘#pogba’ to any tweet from now until Manchester United’s game against Leicester City on February 5th.
Twitter have created the bespoke Pogba portrait ahead of one of the biggest ties of the Premier League season so far — Manchester United vs Liverpool — and the club’s 9.8 million followers are being urged to show their support by using it before, during and after Sunday’s clash.
Those same fans have also been told to keep a close eye on Manchester United’s official Twitter page during the match as something special has been lined up if and when Pogba finds the back of the net against Jurgen Klopp’s men.
Liverpool travel to Old Trafford on Sunday to play what could be a hugely important match in the race for the Premier League title. Manchester United could extend their winning streak to 10 games while the Reds will hope to recover from an EFL Cup semi-final defeat to Southampton.
Pogba said: ‘I am happy and thankful for this opportunity and I look forward to emojing! Let’s have fun at #pogba.’
The Manchester United midfielder is one of the most recognisable sports stars in the world
Followed by over 130 million people across all major platforms, Manchester United are the most connected football club in the Premier League and also have the most visited official website of any club in the world. -
Artistes greet fans on Twitter
As the clocked chimed into 2017, many Nigerian artistes, fresh from a busy yuletide, took to Twitter to greet their fans and also set the ball rolling for the new year.
GT The Guitarman, who performed his last show of 2016 at the One Lagos Fiesta, the weeklong concerts organised by the Lagos State government, tweeted ‘Today is where the 2017 book begins… the rest is still unwritten.. #happynewyear #GreatYearAhead’
But for ‘Ariwo Ko’ crooner, Adekunle Gold, who also took part in the One Lagos Fiesta, the new year presented a temporary avenue to rest. “I can finally rest my voice for few days after today’s show,” he said in the early hours of the new year.
But for DJ Spinall whose album, TEN, also made waves in the latter part of the year when it was released, the new year is no time to rest as he was already slated to perform on January 1, 2017 at the Classic DJs 10 at Hard Rock Café in Lagos.
On his part, Phyno, whose track, ‘Fada Fada’ was a hit in 2016, he simply expressed his love to fans and urged them to motivate each other. “Happy new year my fam,” he tweeted.
“I love u guys so much. Let’s get it this year. Motivate anybody around you. It’s time.”
It was also a similar greeting from Bez Idakula. “Happy New Year from the Idakulas,” he tweeted. “May your year be happy, beautiful, bright and full of love!”
Leader of the Supreme Mavin Dynasty, Don Jazzy, also greeted his fans, saying, “Welcome to 2017. I have been waiting for y’all. God bless us.”
However, Mavin’s first lady, Tiwa Savage, started 2017 by doing another kind of work. Savage, who is a brand ambassador for Pampers, posted a picture where she holds her baby boy, Jamil and promoting the brand.
“Every mom cherishes precious moments shared with their babies,” Tiwa who recently reconciled with her hubby said. “Thanks, Pampers for keeping Jamil dry and happy for me.”
Also, Kiss Daniel, who was also very busy during the holidays, had thanked his fans on December 29, 2016 before the new year was heralded. “Thank you all for a wonderful 2016,” wrote Kiss Daniel who won ‘Best Pop Artiste of the year’ at SoundCity MVP 2016. “2017 is gonna be a mind blowing experience for everyone. ENTER INTO THE NEW YEAR WITH PRAISE. God bless.”
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Eric Trump posts, delete illegal ballot selfie on Twitter
Eric Trump, the son of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, may find himself in trouble after he illegally posted a photo of his marked ballot on Twitter on Tuesday.
The photo, which has since been deleted from the 32-year-old Trump’s Twitter feed, was in violation of laws in New York State.
New York along with more than a dozen other states, prohibits voters from posting photos of their marked ballots.
Trump shared the photo of his ballot filled out in support of his father with the note, “it is an incredible honor to vote for my father! He will do such a great job for the U.S.A.’’
It is unclear if posting the image, also called a ballot selfie, will draw any legal consequences.
Last month, singer Justin Timberlake also broke the law by posting a photo of himself in a voting booth in his home state Tennessee, where he was casting his ballot early.
Local officials decided not to review the case but they warned Timberlake of the violation, which is punishable by a fine or up to 30 days in jail, according to local News Channel 3 Memphis.
“We’re thrilled; Justin can’t stop the feeling when it comes to voting so much that he voted early in person is promoting voting to his millions of fans.
“In Tennessee, using electronic devices inside polling locations to take pictures, videos or make calls is not allowed,” the office of Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett said.
