Survey: Trump Should Dump Tweets

A large majority of Americans (seven in 10) say they are troubled by President-elect Donald Trump's penchant for tweeting his views, according to a new NBC-Wall Street Journal poll.

The survey found that 69% of respondents said tweeting was a bad idea given that “in an instant, messages can have unintended major implications without careful review.”

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Only 26% of respondents backed Trump's tweets as a way to "directly communicate with the people immediately."

Not surprisingly, almost nine in 10 Democrats (89%) say use of the medium by Trump is bad, with just 8% saying it is good. Republicans are more evenly divided, with 46% saying it is a good thing and 47% saying it isn't.

Trump has used his Twitter account to attack his political opponents and media coverage, including Saturday Night Live skits and news stories about him, as well as to praise stories and people he likes, including the military and police, and to express policy positions and cite deals to keep businesses and jobs in the U.S.

Trump has said he uses Twitter as a direct communication with the people because the news media are "dishonest."

The Trump transition team told NBC that the President-elect planned to keep his Twitter account and other social media accounts. Spicer told C-SPAN Wednesdsay that social media was a powerful tool and an opportunity for the President.

The poll was conducted Jan. 12-15 among 1,000 adults. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.