Social media for politicians a double-edged sword

Singapore

THE use of social media by politicians to disseminate official messages can be a double-edged sword - this was the unanimous view of observers, when asked by The Business Times about Twitter being US President Donald Trump's platform of choice to converse with the American people, and his bypassing of the media in the process.

This is because although social media offers politicians a way to instantly reach out to people, it comes without "a filter", which may compromise the sanctity and context of the message. Observers also raised concerns of hacking and fake news.

The problem is that today, using social media is not optional but a necessity - as Lars Voedisch, principal consultant at PRecious Communications sa…