Twitter, the preferred communication tool for a president focused on winning, is notching a victory of its own: joining the S&P 500.
On Thursday, the San Francisco-based company will replace the agro-chemical giant Monsanto — which is being acquired by German pharmaceutical firm Bayer AG — in the index, one of the most widely tracked on the stock market.
Twitter has long been President Trump’s favorite sounding board, one he uses to criticize the news media, compliment supporters, promote his accomplishments, and on occasion, announce new policies.
The U.S. has an increased economic value of more than 7 Trillion Dollars since the Election. May be the best economy in the history of our country. Record Jobs numbers. Nice!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2018
While several lawmakers, some in his own party, have urged him to step back from the social media platform, Trump’s account has accumulated more than 52 million followers, granting him a huge audience with whom he can share his unfiltered thoughts.
Members of the Senate and House of Representatives from both sides of the aisle are using the platform more and more themselves as they adapt to the challenge of communication with constituents who rely increasingly on social media. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, made headlines when she used it earlier this year to call out Wells Fargo chief Tim Sloan over scandals including the creation of millions of phony accounts.
Dear Tim Sloan: @WellsFargo is getting sanctioned by regulators left and right. You already made 291x more than your average employee. Now you’re getting a $4.6 million raise and want praise because you’re not getting a bonus on top? You should be fired, not rewarded. https://t.co/Vr6rBG94xO
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) March 15, 2018
Indeed, there has been a gradual integration of Twitter, which now has a payroll of more than 3,000 and a market value of $29.9 billion, into the news cycle — partially thanks to Trump’s aggressive use.
Of course, that comes with complications of its own: When a departing employee shut down the presidential Twitter account for 11 minutes last fall, the company found itself having to explain what had happened.
My Twitter account was taken down for 11 minutes by a rogue employee. I guess the word must finally be getting out-and having an impact.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2017
The president often posts several comments a day, many of which make news, and he garnered headlines when he blocked other Twitter users from looking at his account. In late May, a federal judge in New York City ruled that Trump violated their constitutional rights, and the White House has since unblocked them. Trump is appealing the decision.
Other leaders from around the world are also embracing the platform: Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India, has almost 43 million Twitter followers, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was once a strong opponent, now has 13 million followers.
The tool has also become an important medium for businesses, Twitter itself among them, to communicate with customers. Companies such as Facebook and Airbnb have established multiple Twitter accounts to offer customer service, general news and specific channels of content for customers.
We are rolling out the following features to https://t.co/AIUgyCj4rs, Twitter Lite, and Twitter for Windows to provide more consistency across platforms. See what’s new. ?
✔️ night mode
✔️ real time updates on reply, Retweet, and like counts
✔️ updated Tweet compose box— Twitter (@Twitter) May 22, 2018
Twitter has climbed 4.7 percent in New York trading since its promotion to the S&P 500 was announced, and UBS analyst Eric Sheridan noted after the company’s April earnings report that user engagement was growing, luring advertisers eager to take advantage.
