FELONY AND IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION THROUGH DIGITAL SPHERE: A STUDY OF DONALD TRUMP’S X POSTINGS IN THE POST-ELECTED ERA (NOVEMBER 2024)

Abstract

This study focuses on the construction of felony and political identities that derive from Donald Trump’s use of X, previously Twitter, in post-elected era (November 2024). It particularly looks at how digital platforms might be used in forming public identities that have social, legal, and political relevance. By using qualitative content analysis of the selected tweets, the study puts into context Trump’s narration practices of establishing his identity as a victim of political persecution and a foreteller of national crises while positioning himself as a powerful national leader. It investigates the potential legal consequences of his political discourse in the X, including but not limited to defamation, misinformation, mellowing, and getting the intent to incite. The study identifies ways in which Trump’s activity on X contributes to the exacerbation of political polarization, the setting of legislative priorities, and the trust deficit in government institutions. It proposes a new perspective that portrays the phenomenon as multi-dimensional, straddling the intersection of digital identity formation, political engagement, and legal culture, thus confirming that the media persona sculpted by Trump has far-reaching consequences for conceptualizing contemporary communications discourse semantics and communication felonies in politics. In the end, the study makes suggestions on how to deal with the new risk of communication felony in politics. This includes focusing on media literacy enhancement, tightening legal nuances on digital political speech, and positively engaging in political speech on social media. These indeed are the challenges for political communication in the digital age that will require more research.

Keywords: Felony, Identity Construction, Digital Sphere, Tweets