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Can Donald Trump's social media genius take him all the way to the White House? - 27 Dec 2015 13:53

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[[html]]In sentences I never thought Id write: Donald Trump is still riding high in the polls as part of his bid to be the next President of the United States. Late last month, the Republican nomination hopeful dropped a massive 12 percentage points in a single week following comments on creating a Muslim Database, but it speaks to his unfathomable popularity that even with such a vertiginous fall he was still hitting 31%, and since then, his ratings have climbed ever higher.<br><br>If theres anything that goes some way to explaining Trumps popularity in the midst of his quasi-fascistic views that reached a nadir with his call to ban all Muslims from entering the United States, it is his social media prowess. Trump has more than 5.5 million Twitter followers and 4.5 million Facebook fans. He has a presence across YouTube, Vine, Instagram and Periscope. Dan Pfeiffer, Obamas highly-regarded former digital and social media guru, has said Trump is way better at the internet than anyone else in the GOP which is partly why he is winning.<br><br>'I'm the Ernest Hemingway of 140 characters'<br><br>Donald Trump<br><br>Unusually for such a modest man, Trump has also, er, trumpeted his own social media savvy, saying that he understands it maybe better than anybody, ever. He has also called himself: the Ernest Hemingway of 140 characters.<br><br>Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer)September 21, 2015The Trump @twitter q&amp;a is a reminder that he is way better at the Internet than anyone else in the GOP which is partly why he is winning<br><br>Whats behind Trumps social media strategy? Is it carefully calibrated or is it authentic? Does he always get it right, and do mainstream media outlets need to be worried? How are those against Trump fighting back online in particular after his most incendiary comments? And perhaps, most important of all: what does this mean for his candidacy?<br><br>Lets take a look at the ins and outs of Internet Trump.<br><br>His Instagram videos are the future of American politics<br><br>Trump is fond of posting short clips to Instagram, as well as Vine, Twitter and Facebook. The brief videos evolved from his presence on YouTube (the Trump channel now has upwards of 1.3m views). Most of the clips consist of him yelling into a camera, flecks of spittle hitting the lens.<br><br>Trumps 15-second Instagram shorts are the brainchild of his 29-year-old director of new media, Justin McConney. Costing nothing to produce, lo-fi, short and to the point, the spots are often picked up and run across mainstream TV networks. Essentially, Trump is gaining free TV advertising when it is estimated that 2016 presidential candidates will spend, together, $4.4bn (2.9bn) on television campaigns. Trump has spent just 1% of the money Jeb Bush has on TV adverts. Thats an extraordinary figure, especially for a man of Trumps wealth.<br><br>Donald Trump addresses Barack Obamas ridiculous concerns about global warming.<br><br>As well as the quick desk-based rants, Trumps team also cut quick, slick videos, often featuring doom-laden music, out-of-context soundbites and black-and-white filters (a similar aesthetic to truthers). Again, the reach outweighs the shoddy production values. The video posted in Novermber of Hilary Clinton laughing over a wreckage in Bengazi is a good example. <br><br>Trump has spent just 1% of the money Jeb Bush has on TV adverts<br><br>Trump has now extended his video output, announcing that he will be holding weekly live-streams on Periscope. Hes not the first politician to use Periscope, but he is the first to announce a regular Q&amp;A session. <br><br>Trumps shorts arent always so slick, however, as the video of him being attacked by an American bald eagle attests.<br><br>Donald Trump attacked by American bald eagle videoThe tradition of politicians adopting zeitgeist media<br><br>Goebbels had his Leni Riefenstahl films to (agit)prop up Hitler in the 1930s. Some of the most famous political speeches of all time came from Churchill, crackling over the radio during wartime, (or more specifically, from a voice actor), galvanising a nation. In the US, Franklin D. Roosevelts fireside chats are the stuff of legend. John F. Kennedy, meanwhile, is known as the first TV president. <br><br><img class="gu-image" itemprop="contentUrl" alt="Winston Churchill broadcasts from the White House in&#10;1943." src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cefa31c0d26a4f8c57c91b12381116252fdc4366/0_0_3524_2772/master/3524.jpg?w=300&amp;q=85&amp;auto=format&amp;sharp=10&amp;s=35febf58ca2655e0c920c1e06305978b"/> Winston Churchill broadcasts from the White House in<br><br>1943. Photograph: Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORB<br><br>Donald Trump, in many ways, is carrying the baton from Barack Obamas successful 2008 election campaign, which some called the Facebook election. That campaign saw Obama implement a digital team including 24-year-old Facebook co-founder, Chris Hughes. Obama has since made many digital appointments, including Pfeiffer (who has since left), Matthew McGregor (who later worked for Labour in the UK) and former Twitter executive Jason Goldman as his chief digital officer.<br><br>For his part, Trump apparently sends the majority of his own tweets, especially in the evening, when his staff have gone home. The two most important things for a celebrity on social media are to be authentic and to give your fans what they want, says McConney, who does most of the video editing.<br><br>Hes a skilled live-tweeter<br><br>Trumps Twitter coverage of major events has become a key part of his online presence. He first offered live reaction during the 2012 GOP debate (another idea of McConneys). He has also live-tweeted the Oscars and Celebrity Apprentice, as well as the Democratic debate earlier this year which prompted an excellent response from Hillary Clinton:<br><br>Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton)October 13, 2015.@realDonaldTrump Glad you'll be watching. It's going to be "huge."<br><br>Most recently, he live-tweeted the latest Democratic debate which took place over the weekend, taunting Clinton for arriving late to the stage after she was caught in a queue for the bathroom during a commercial break. It always helps to be talking about whats trending at the moment, says McConney. I think its great for his fans to be able to watch these events and see his thoughts on them simultaneously.<br><br>Live-tweeting an event is a fine art especially when its a crowded field. Tweet an observation or joke that hundreds of others have already made and followers will be sure to let you know about it. But live-tweeting a popular event is an opportunity to engage with a wide audience in real time and Trump knows that.<br><br>#AskTrump<br><br>There were many online media round-ups of the most mocking, often scathing, responses to Trumps #AskTrump question and answer session in September, with most outlets declaring that the exercise backfired. It may well have done, but the Q&amp;A trended worldwide and the mogul answered many questions posed by challengers as well as supporters. He answered via his favoured method the short video clip rather than simple text.<br><br>Once again, he effortlessly dominated the conversation online which translated into mainstream media coverage. Some of the piss-taking tweets, were, however, hilarious. <br><br><img src="http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CPcWzivUAAEFnQK.jpg" alt="" rel="nofollow" class=" js-tweet-main-image tweet-main-image"/> Brock Lange (@brock_lange)September 21, 2015#AskTrump who wore it better? pic.twitter.com/DO0ISLwXf9<br><br><img src="http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CPcJTJoUEAEtdwA.jpg" alt="" rel="nofollow" class=" js-tweet-main-image tweet-main-image"/> Franchesca Ramsey (@chescaleigh)September 21, 2015If you build a wall to keep Mexicans out of the US, how will you get your suits into the country? #AskTrump pic.twitter.com/g4OECUskeL<br><br>Hes easily meme-able (and gullible)<br><br>Trump loves to talk about how high his IQ is and how low everybody elses is. This despite the fact that nobody with any actual smarts believes an IQ score to be indicative of actual real world intelligence. In truth, Trump is often caught out by basic Twitter pranks. A particular trick he falls for, seemingly again and again, is retweeting photographs of well-known people when Twitter users dupe him into believing they are Trump supporters as opposed to, say, infamous murderers Fred and Rose West. He threatened to sue over that particular incident.<br><br><img class="gu-image" itemprop="contentUrl" alt="trump tweet fred west" src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2015/12/3/1449161112150/ea592500-e5d3-404a-8952-afa3ecd25afd-518x540.jpeg?w=300&amp;q=85&amp;auto=format&amp;sharp=10&amp;s=bc97435fbf20e8bafda89dff21d10580"/>Photograph: Twitter screengrab<br><br>Trump also mistook a picture of the British leader of the opposition Jeremy Corbyn for a tweeters first-time voter father. As well as not being able to identify Corbyn, he retweeted a picture of former Scottish Labour party leader, Jim Murphy. (But to be honest: us neither).<br><br>Trumps incredible foot-in-mouth skills also mean the man is made for internet mockery. For instance, this gem from before his presidential bid, part of the fallout from this Jon Stewart skit that came in response to Trumps trolling of the presenter: <br><br>Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)May 3, 2013Amazing how the haters &amp; losers keep tweeting the name F**kface Von Clownstick like they are so original &amp; like no one else is doing it…<br><br>Trump doesnt care for mainstream media, and he might not need it<br><br>A question asked by the political commentariat is this: is Trumps dominance of social media unnerving the fourth estate and traditional broadcast media? And that answer appears to be, to some extent: yes.<br><br>This question has come up before in various political races particularly in the campaign for the Labour Party leadership in the UK, when supporters of Jeremy Corbyn who is frequently savaged by the right of the British mainstream media mobilised online. Corbyn won the vote by a landslide. <br><br>Social media like owning a newspaper but without the losses<br><br>Donald Trump<br><br>But contrast this with many commentators and pollsters blindsided by the majority Conservative 2015 election win. Demographics are skewed when it comes to online v phone polling; much of politics on social media is an echo chamber thanks to algorithms partly based on who we follow and our location settings. Photoshopping a #milifandom picture of Ed Miliband doesnt mean you support him, and engaging behind a screen requires less effort than getting to a voting booth.<br><br>As well as spending a pittance on traditional TV advertising, Trump is also wont to turn down media appearances because he can just click a button and get his views out there. This, in particular, speaks to the issue of whether social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are becoming publishers with editorial codes. (What would happen, say, if Trump crossed a line and tweeted something that could be regarded as hate speech? Many would argue he already has)<br><br>Cue plenty of think pieces, like this one and this one, on what this all means for broadcast and print. Trump, meanwhile, doesnt care and seems keen on disparaging most journalists and outlets both left and right-leaning.<br><br>Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)December 1, 2015Highly untalented Wash Post blogger, Jennifer Rubin, a real dummy, never writes fairly about me. Why does Wash Post have low IQ people?<br><br>Zac Moffat, responsible for Mitt Romneys digital campaigning in 2012, said: [Trump has] used social media to replace the traditional apparatus of a political campaign. Hes living on this medium. Asked about his talent for social media, Trump said its great. Its like owning a newspaper but without the losses. Burn.<br><br>It is worth mentioning that there are signs the media is fighting back. After Trumps heinous comments on Muslims, the Huffington Post moved all of its Trump related content from its entertainment section, with Arianna Huffington writing that she no longer viewed Trumps candidacy as amusing. Buzzfeeds editor-in-chief Ben Smith also tweeted a memo he wrote to his staff, in which he said it was fine for them to call Trump a mendacious racist. <br><br>Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)November 26, 2015The failing @nytimes should focus on fair and balanced reporting rather than constant hit jobs on me. Yesterday 3 boring articles, today2!<br><br>He doesnt seem to care about the facts, either<br><br>Trump tells a lot of lies. A lot of lies. Often, dangerous and divisive lies more suited to the type of conspiracy theorists who stay up editing 9/11 videos until four in the morning. But, again, he doesnt care. <br><br>Challenged on retweeting untrue statistics on race and crime, he responded: All it was was a retweet. Though hes deleted tweets in the past (including the Fred and Rose West one), he more often leaves tweets up. Or blames it on an intern. It is hard for the media to hold a politician to account when he doesnt try to cover up his lies or blatant disregard for the facts. Trumps main medium is the internet and the internet is a place where lies quite comfortably live.<br><br>Just 42% of Trump's Facebook followers are in America<br><br>But he does care for the fans<br><br>Trump often tweets quite personal things about his family. He also frequently thanks his supporters, which is unusual for a figure with so many followers. As well as this, he engages with gossip and celebrity and popular culture. The New York Times warns of the risk of appearing frivolous, but it helps to make billionaire Trump seem more in-touch than other fusty politicians. This fits in of course with his entire stance, which is that of the anti-politician. He still claims to speak for the silent majority (or, as self-described in this excellent GQ piece, the quiet people) and paints himself as an everyman (an everyman with who lives in a $100m penthouse, sure).<br><br>Are all his online fans real?<br><br>As touched on above, social media activity and popularity does not necessarily translate to the polls or electoral success. There are many reasons for this namely, it is much easier to click a like button than make the effort to go to the voting booth. Also to consider: those engaged online tend to be younger and dont vote in big numbers IRL. Further just because a person follows a social media account, it doesnt mean they agree with or support it. <br><br>Then theres the knock-on effect of virtue signalling. Many people will tweet charity campaigns for refugees or support for left wing politicians because they think it makes them look good. Its possible that people who support immigration controls or policies that belie their self-interest keep it under wraps (see also: the shy Tory phenomenon). <br><br><img class="gu-image" itemprop="contentUrl" alt="Supports hold up camera phones at a Trump rally in Virginia." src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/6ca3bc68cd6b03fc129aba7cbb4e4335064c7248/0_0_3000_1929/master/3000.jpg?w=300&amp;q=85&amp;auto=format&amp;sharp=10&amp;s=57379628ad1f4be80eef2ddb6c5f1f2f"/> Supporters hold up camera phones at a Trump rally in Virginia. Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images<br><br>But there is another side, which is the existence of bot or spam followers and supporters and likes. One study found that of Trumps millions of Facebook followers, only 42% were from America. Many followers were from developing countries, in particular countries in Asia. 1 in 27 of Trumps followers was based in Malaysia. <br><br>What does this mean? It means that much of Trumps online support is coming from places notorious for online and social media fraud. It is common for individuals to be paid by brands and companies to like their products and events to give the impression of popularity. And so-called like farms and comment armies are often used by undemocratic parties in certain parts of the world (Russia, for example). <br><br>I used TwitterAudit to give an estimate of the real-to-fake ratio of Trumps Twitter followers and 64% were thought to be real but that means more than 1.6 million are thought to be fake. I am not suggesting that Trumps campaign team is buying fake support itself I dont think it is but its interesting that a lot of his support seems to come from places of particularly spammy regions. <br><br>Trump doesnt actually seem to understand the internet<br><br>He might be good on Twitter, but Trump hasnt covered himself in glory when it comes to understanding the rudimentary elements of the internet. He was widely mocked after proclaiming in the most recent GOP debate that areas of the internet should be closed off. <br><br>max (@MaxRappaport)December 16, 2015Trump's gonna put a password on the wifi, but the password's gonna be password<br><br>Not only does this posit a dangerous oppression on censorship and freedom of information more typical of despotic dictatorships such as North Korea, or Chinas great firewall, but its also something which cant be simply implemented, which Trump doesnt quite seem to understand. Its as though he thinks he can just hop from house to house in Raqqa unplugging ethernet cables and the whole Isis death cult thing will be sorted. He is also quite keen on referring to the internet as our internet. The US doesnt own the internet, Donald. <br><br>How is the internet fighting back?<br><br>The internet, as anybody with a connection will know, gives as good as it gets. Trump may have saturated social media, but there are plenty of people pushing back on his 140-character vitriol, 15 seconds of posturing or his Nuremberg-in-a-wig broadcasts. The mocking of Trump is not just limited to specific social media events such as the #AskTrump question and answer session. Pretty much everything Trump tweets or posts will have comments and replies calling him out as racist, xenophobic, sexist, misogynist. <br><br>Memes mocking Trump abound his alleged toup and radioactive tan are often targeted but his policies are also taken to task in succinct style. There has also been plenty of online support for Muslims, and defence of Islam, in the wake of Trumps comments. In particular, after Trump ridiculously asserted that there were no-go areas in London that police feared to visit, ostensible hotbeds of terrorism, #TrumpFacts began trending on Twitter, calling out Trumps seeming allergy to rational truth.<br><br><img src="http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CVuLrJ-WUAAzogy.jpg" alt="" rel="nofollow" class=" js-tweet-main-image tweet-main-image"/> Martin Belam (@MartinBelam)December 8, 2015Britain so radicalised that the Queen now wears a hijab instead of a crown #TrumpFacts pic.twitter.com/34jxu72dGn<br><br>Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg even wrote in a post that he would fight to create a safe and peaceful environment for Muslims. While he did not explicitly name Trump, the post appeared after Trumps comments about wanting to ban Muslims. <br><br>An online petition calling for a ban on Trump entering the UK clocked up more than 360,000 signatures in just 24 hours. Apps exist that will remove all mention of Trump online (including the well-named Trump Trump) and a Chrome extension transforms his name into the poo emoji . The hacking collective Anonymous also announced a fightback against Trump.<br><br>What now?<br><br>It remains to be seen whether a man so hateful, so farcical, a man whose permanent expression is that of someone whose drunk friends superglued his eyebrows into a frown while he was sleeping, can become president of the United States. <br><br>Despite his strong polling numbers, it is probably unlikely. But Trump, thanks to the fact he can rack up 3.6 m Facebook engagements just by announcing his candidacy, has taught us that in 2015 its not enough for politicians to be able to adeptly read an Autocue. Theyd better be able to take a decent selfie and understand a meme, too. <br><br>How Tsipras and Varoufakis turned Greek tragedy into Twitter triumph<br><br>[[/html]] - Comments: 0

Your questions about upgrading Windows 7 to Windows 10, or vice versa - 20 Dec 2015 16:43

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[[html]]How long have I got?<br><br>Im thinking of upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 10. Im told the free upgrade is only for one year, and after that you have to pay 80 for it. Is that the case? Robert<br><br>You have one year from the launch to accept the free upgrade to Windows 10, so you must do it before 29 July 2016. After you have accepted the free upgrade, there is no further charge for the life of the device. It remains to be seen whether Microsoft will offer any deals after the deadline, but Windows 10 costs 99.99 or $119.99 from Microsoft. Other suppliers may sell it for less.<br><br>Can I download now and keep it for later?<br><br>We are currently using Windows 7. Can we download Windows 10 now and install it later? And why or why not? Tracey<br><br>Windows 10 is Windows as a Service and it is frequently updated from the cloud. You can download Windows 10 and keep it on a DVD or USB stick, which is handy if you need to upgrade several PCs. However, the download will soon be out of date, so that is not a long-term solution.<br><br>Windows 10 has a cloud-based authentication system, so you must install the upgrade before 29 July 2016. If you miss the deadline, Microsofts servers will not authenticate the free upgrade and you will be asked to pay.<br><br>Can I keep Windows 7?<br><br>I am running Windows 7 at the moment. Can I download Windows 10 and have both systems on my machine? John<br><br>No, Microsoft is not giving away copies of Windows 10, just offering to upgrade existing licences for Windows 7/8/8.1 to Windows 10 for free. If you want to run two versions of Windows, you have to buy two licences.<br><br>Can I move it to a new PC?<br><br>I own an Asus laptop with Windows 7 installed, but I am going to be building a new gaming rig very soon. Is there any way I can use my existing copy of Windows to get the upgrade on my new desktop? Not being able to use the laptop afterwards is not a problem. Hkon<br><br>Sorry, no: see above. Cheap pre-installed copies of Windows are locked to the PC on which they are pre-activated and shipped. Only the more expensive retail version can be moved from one PC to a different PC. And to reply to Chris: when you upgrade your retail copy of Windows 7 to Windows 10, it will retain its rights. That means you will be able to move your copy of Windows 10 to a different PC. (Obviously you can only run it on one PC at a time.)<br><br>Getting authenticated<br><br>I was having a blue screen problem with my Gateway laptop running Windows 7. I installed Windows 10 from USB and that has resolved my issue. So now I am sitting with this lovely operating system, but I know I will require a product key for it soon enough. Can I email Microsoft and beg for one, or is there an easier way? Mike<br><br>The correct procedure is to install Windows 10 as an in-place upgrade, after which Microsofts online servers will authenticate it automatically. Once Windows 10 has been authenticated, you can do a clean installation from a USB stick or DVD, and that will also be authenticated automatically. (There is a possible workaround.)<br><br>However, following user complaints, Microsoft changed things with Windows 10 version 1511, the Fall Update released last month. This can be activated using the Windows 7/8/8.1 key from your laptop: its probably on a COA (Certificate of Authenticity) sticker.<br><br>To check, go to Settings, select Update &amp; Security, and then Activation. If it says, Windows is activated then you are OK. If not, change the product key to your old Windows 7 key. If the worst came to the worst, you would have to ask for a phone activation, or re-install Windows 7 from a backup and then install Windows 10 again.<br><br>Upgrading from Vista via Windows 7<br><br>My laptop hard drive died. My data was backed up so no big deal. However, I had purchased an upgrade disk to go from Vista to Windows 7, and this tells me that it only works as an upgrade [to Vista]. I dont have a copy of Vista. Brian<br><br>If you had made a full backup of Windows 7 which is easy using the built-in backup software then you would be able to restore that to the new hard drive, and then upgrade to Windows 10. However, you could try installing the Windows 10 Fall Update from a DVD or USB stick and then entering your Windows 7 product key, as explained above.<br><br>Alternatively, you could download the Vista code from Get Into PC, and use your original Windows Vista product key to activate it. Thats probably on the COA sticker on your PC, if you didnt record it anywhere else. Once Vista is activated then you can use your disk to upgrade to Windows 7, after which Windows Update will offer to install Windows 10.<br><br>Can I go back to Windows 7?<br><br>I had Windows 7 and loved it. I accepted the free Windows 10 upgrade and I am sooo sorry. Is there a way to get Windows 7 back? Barbara<br><br>Yes, if you act within 30 days. Go to Settings, select Update &amp; Security, and click Recovery. This allows you to go back to your previous operating system, which has been stored in a Windows old folder. Windows eventually deletes this to save space.<br><br>Note that the Windows 10 Fall Update is a new version of Windows 10. When its installed, the earlier version of Windows 10 becomes the new Windows old. After that, you cant simply go back to Windows 7/8/8.1.<br><br>Can I downgrade a Windows 10 laptop?<br><br>A friend has bought a laptop with Windows 10 pre-installed. He is quite homesick for Windows 7, and longs to get it back. Can he get Windows 7 free? Barry<br><br>Pro versions of Windows include downgrade rights. If your friends new laptop has Windows 10 Home then he would have to buy an upgrade to the Pro version before making the downgrade. Microsoft describes the process in an article, Understanding downgrade rights.<br><br>Unfortunately, theres no obvious way to get a legal copy of Windows 7, unless the PC manufacturer agrees to provide one. Yes, you can download it from Microsoft, but you have to enter a valid Windows 7 product key to get it.<br><br>But I wouldnt bother. The upgrade to Windows 10 Pro costs 99.99, so your friend would be better off making a complete backup of his current system, then buying a discounted copy of Windows 7.<br><br>However, a Windows 10 laptop may have been designed for and tested with Windows 10. It may not have been tested with Windows 7, and there is no guarantee that all the right drivers will be available. If it goes wrong, your friend must be able to restore Windows 10 from his backup.<br><br>Ask Jack has had about 850 questions about Windows 10, which is too many to answer personally. If yours isnt answered here, see Microsoft Windows 10 free upgrade: five questions answered, Microsoft Windows 10 free upgrade: 10 more of your questions answered, Microsoft Windows 10 free upgrade: seven more questions answered, Microsoft Windows 10 free upgrade: the last roundup, and Microsoft Windows 10 free upgrade revisited: seven more of your questions answered.<br><br>Have you got another question for Jack? Email it to moc.naidraugeht|kcaJ.ksA#moc.naidraugeht|kcaJ.ksA<br><br>[[/html]] - Comments: 0


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