Post-Truth Rhetoric and Its Correlation to Social Media in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election

<p>In this study, I investigated the relationship between post-truth rhetoric and popular social media posts made by public figures during the 2024 United States presidential election. I focused on which topics and posts received the most or least engagement during the election, and theorized whether post-truth rhetoric impacted the popularity of the posts. In my results, I found that the effectiveness of post-truth rhetoric varied by the political topic it was addressing. The results of this study conclude that post-truth rhetoric is not always inherently unethical. Further, studying post-truth rhetoric for the purpose of understanding why it is used and why it is effective for specific audiences allows the field of rhetoric to gain more insight into how people’s beliefs and concerns affect their decisions.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English

Year

2025

Author dc:creator

• Thomas, Emi

Contributors dc:contributor

• Nora Rivera
• Ian Barnard
• Aurora Matzke

• social media
• post-truth rhetoric
• rhetoric
• election
• rhetoric and composition

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/english_theses/84

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.chapman.edu:english_theses-1089