Businesses are always looking for way to increase productivity, eliminate inefficiencies. So you might think a platform regulated to 100 characters or less--including spaces--could be a business owner's dream. Get rid of that inconsequential 2nd space between sentences! Not only is there no need, now it takes up space better devoted to the message.
But here's the thing about having to fit coherent, business-like communication into such constraints...it propels itself to even more abbreviated thoughts. Emojis stand in for complicated thoughts. A new shorthand develops (or is revived from secretarial days). And suddenly the tweet is almost incomprehensible. Or it takes a few of them in a row (1/3).
Which may be why the president-elect likes it so well. He comes from big business, thinks himself a formative force and example of the best business tactics. (Note, not behavior, not practices.) So if tweeting is a model of efficiency, it should not be surprising that he uses this as his main form of communication with news outlets--instead of press conferences--with the public, or to jab at whatever nuisance needs to be poked to get him what he wants.
Except that I'm not sure that there's much thought put into it. I think it's actually a case of his phone is the device he has closest to his fingers and so that's what he uses. There's no evidence of forethought in the tweets themselves; I can't imagine there's any in which form of communication is best. His own adviser Ms. Conway says he isn't capable of speaking what's in his heart, that America needs to look past the words and focus on what's in his heart.
Tweeting could be seen as the next break through in efficiency for business communication. Except for the fact that it inherently makes communication look childish. Not the best platform of presentation for the president-elect. Especially when you shout. #allcaps So let us not mistake business for government, tweets for press conferences.
Which, by the way, brings up another point: brush up on your double dash punctuation America, you're going to need it. As evidenced by the transcript of the 1 press conference we've had so far.
