Internet users are strongly divided. Some point out that the White House has “unfastened its roller skates”, others are happy that finally someone speaks the language that the nation wants to hear (and implicitly: part of Donald Trump's electorate). However, everyone probably agrees that what is happening on the official social media channels of the White House – both on X and on TikTok – is highly controversial.
In order not to remain untrue, in recent days the White House has posted video materials on the X profile (formerly Twitter) referring to the war in the Middle East, including the liquidation of Iran's highest leaders. However, the way the White House presented the “success” of the American military is controversial. The entire material is stylized as… animations known from bowling alleys, displayed after hitting all the pins. In this case, however, the anthropomorphic bowling pins were stylized as Iranian leaders, and the ball had the colors of the United States flag.
There have been more similar examples in recent days, such as the presentation of US attacks on Iran in the form of a Nintendo game.
We asked Zbigniew Borowski, member of the management board of the SOCIALIVE SP marketing agency, about this method of communication in social media. Z OO, a long-time specialist in social media campaigns and an expert in internet culture and the so-called “memosphere”, which the White House is clearly referring to.
– Something that was called science fiction in the 2006 film “Idiocracy” is now reality – comments Borowski. — The very fact that we are talking about crossing boundaries and entering the memosphere with posts from the White House speaks for itself.
Zbigniew Borowski
As he mentions, the posts are mainly addressed to a specific group of recipients who not only do not see anything wrong with it, but even expect this type of behavior from the Donald Trump administration.
— Trump's hard core electorate loves his impertinence and lack of boundaries, says the expert. — It remains for others to observe and create an alternative, as well as the ability to think critically about the true intentions of such messages.
- Read also: “MAGA is Trump.” But will it follow him to the bottom or to the top? The greatest test of loyalty is coming
As he adds, this type of narrative is deeply embedded in American culture:
— In the USA there must be guns, distorted music, an eagle, lots of flags, splendor, pomp, a whole lot of revelry. From Poland's point of view, we are not ready for such hardcore, we are simply not as quick-tempered, extroverted, we are more unleavened.
However, can we distinguish the political mainstream from the highly “memic” message on social media? Zbigniew Borowski points out that this type of approach is inappropriate and may lead to downplaying dangerous signals.
— Can we treat such entries in SM as the official opinion of the American government? We have to! After all, it is extremely American, culturally embedded in everything that their creative industry has built.
As Borowski points out, this type of narrative led by Donald Trump and his entourage was already visible during the election campaign before the first term and during it. The following years were a process of slowly “boiling the frog” and getting us used to increasingly controversial messages.
— Since then, there has been a whole wave of transformation, including communication, messaging, media consumption habits, which result in AI-generated, direct, perfidious, extremely childish entries on the official profiles of the US government. Not to mention Trump's personal thoughts, which he publishes on his own Truth Social platform, which effectively break into the mainstream on a wave of controversy.
Donald Trump during his speech before the joint houses of Congress and the House of Representatives
|
Pool / Pool / Getty Images
Finally, I asked the expert about how important a tool social media is today and what impact X (Twitter) can have on political issues:
– Donald Trump owed his victory the first time not only to a great campaign in terms of message and vision, but also to influence operations conducted using social media – says the expert. — Except that 10-15 years ago you lost your job for joking on Twitter, and today memes are published there on official profiles. This is a very large and dangerous shift in the responsibility that politicians bear for their actions, because there is less and less of it.
- Read also: “Donald Trump could set an incredible precedent.” The outstanding Bulgarian analyst Ivan Krastev outlines possible scenarios for the world
Zbigniew Borowski also draws attention to the Polish perspective in all this confusion:
— From the Polish perspective, it is worth observing especially carefully. Our main guarantor of security within NATO is currently turning war communications into viral content. For the country on the eastern flank, which for years has been building its defense strategy around the alliance with the US, this is a signal that cannot be ignored. Not because the memes are funny or distasteful, but because the current administration treats war as marketing, not as a matter requiring seriousness and responsibility.
