On the Horizon of Social Media: Oprah the Reconciler… and a Touch of Trump, the Demagogue
Oprah Winfrey, AKA the Queen of “you getta this, you getta that,” and ultimately, one of the world’s most influential people is running for president… says everyone on social media. The question that astounds me is this; did Oprah mention that she was running for president during her Golden Globe Speech? Uhh, #NO. However, Oprah (being the reconciler that she is) brought such rationale and conviction to her speech that she made everyone think that she was running for the title of President Winfrey #Oprah2020.
Her perspective is a vision of a “new day on the horizon” for little girls, in light of racism and sexism. Oprah took advantage of her platform and being the first Black woman to win the Cecil B. DeMille Award to speak about that issue from the heart. However, it looked as though the online community had a better plan for Oprah.
Let’s maybe throw Michelle Obama in the mix, according to Sarah Silverman.
Through participatory media, we will discover primarily whether social media enables or disables reconcilers like, Oprah Winfrey. At the end of this blog, we will touch upon the biggest demagogue of them all, Donald Trump.
Participatory Media
Social media enables users to actively participate on social media in movements, issue or social buzz like, #Oprah2020. On Wednesday, January 7, 2018, from Oprah fans to Trump supporters, everyone had an opinion on #Oprah2020.
Considering Oprah is still a hot topic, I think that the speculation of “President Oprah” almost neglected the aspiration of her insightful Golden Globe speech. Since all social media platforms got involved in screening her speech for presidency, it seemed as though the speech became a part of a presidential qualification debate of some sort. So much so, the White House actually welcomed Oprah after hearing considerations from her friend, Gayle and partner, Stedman.
In our society today, most people want to be a part of an influencer or celebrity’s life, and social media enables that. Social media users have the ability to follow celebrities just as how they would follow their friends. In addition, the Oprah conversation was just proof that everyone wanted to be a part of this buzz — contributing to the chain of tweets and posts, hoping that their expressed opinion will impact the outcome (whatever that outcome may be).
Now Oprah, such a kind, generous and thoughtful human being, could this possibly be good for her platform? Let’s talk about it.
Recently on December 21, 2017, Oprah sent out a viral message warning her fans about an imposter scamming people for money using Oprah and OWN’s name and fake accounts. You can find it here. The scam posted a giveaway, but it was all fraud.
Oprah is so generous, that fans believed that it actually came from Oprah!
Oprah’s Established Media Platform
Although there were presidency speculations and frauds over the last couple months, I don’t believe that those two events will completely disable Oprah. She has one of the largest media empires beginning from her talk show to her own television network, OWN (source). Not that Oprah needs it, but all this buzz helps to create more exposure for her name. Now, she can continue to use social media for good causes — like promoting her scholarship funds and her other charitable efforts. Likewise, for other reconcilers, they can most definitely use social media to their advantage. It’s a great tool!
#Trump… #Demagogue
As for Trump… the demagogue, he uses social media in a completely different light. His irrational, unprofessional and inappropriate tweets attract the attention of the public for all the wrong reasons, but he doesn’t care! As long as he’s getting attention, he’s happy. Like other demagogues, Trump would use Twitter profusely for attention.
Oprah’s Concluding Remarks #Reconciler
According to InStyle, Oprah mentions that she knows herself well, and that she doesn’t have the interest or “DNA” to run for president. See tweet below:
Even in the social media spotlight, I think Oprah responded to #Oprah2020 very wisely. She already has an established empire, why throw that away for a job that she’s uninterested in. Smart thinking Queen! *Clap*
