In this day and age, it’s so terribly easy to get enveloped by what we think is the reassuring blanket of social media. Gradually, it has descended upon all of us, but in the Trump administration, social media has taken a turn for the worst as we witness its ubiquitous power.

  Partisanship is a prominent theme in America today. We didn’t heed the words of George Washington and the rope that connected all of us, Republican or Democrat, began to fray, tear, and eventually, rip.

  We made it easy for Russian troll farms to create divisive political Facebook ads under fake activist groups. America has all the tools it needs to itself.

  All the Russians had to do was ignite the spark that made us vitriolic towards each other and watch the flames as we burned.

  Race always has been one of the most divisive topics in this country. It’s a point that hits too close to home for every person of color; mention it and naturally you’ll receive a wide range of responses and some nasty clashes. Russia was aware of this, so when they created groups on Facebook with ads that had taglines like “Join us because we care. Black matters!”, they knew what kind of response would be elicited from both sides of the spectrum.

  Russia was happy with the results; after all, it is what they wanted. It wasn’t just race that the Russians targeted in their ads—the Second Amendment, Satan vs. Jesus (Hillary was, of course, Satan to create even more controversy), and Muslims were all part of fake Russian ads, and the divide of partisanship deepened further.

  Trump’s main media presence, however, is not on Facebook—it’s Twitter. Trump plays at a different type of politics where his presence is supposed to be felt through 280 characters or less. It’s an impossible task and a pesky one at that.

  So what happens when Trump’s Twitter account is removed for eleven minutes by a low-level employee on his last day of work? The question I think we should be asking ourselves is what happens when you take away a child’s toy?

  What does this say about us as a society, wherein we can see an ad on Facebook and become heated and enraged at the ad itself and its response, and the whole time believing it?

  What does it say about our President and his habits when his Twitter account gets taken down for eleven measly minutes and it makes national news?

  They are questions we hadn’t considered until Trump came into office. Gone are the days of resolution of conflict through physical wars and combat. A new age has been ushered in—that of cyberwarfare.

  It’s far more risky because we’re breaching new territory here where the rules aren’t followed, much less in existence. Human emotions and civilians as a whole are now at the mercy of their computer screens, phones, iPads, and whoever is behind them.

  So yes, technology is great, but we need to take caution against it all, along with social media, because you never know if you’re today’s target.