\u201cYou now have billions of people on the internet, and most of them are not that happy with the status quo,\u201d\u009d said Ian Bremmer, the president of the Eurasia Group, a research firm that forecasts global risks. \u201cThey think their local government is authoritarian. They think they\u2019re on the wrong side of the establishment. They\u2019re aggrieved by identity politics and a hollowed-out middle class.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
Many factors accounted for Mr. Trump\u2019s win: middle-class economic anxiety in the industrial Midwest; an inchoate desire for some kind of change in the national direction; and some mix of latent racism, xenophobia and sexism across the electorate. But as even Mr. Trump acknowledged in an interview with \u201c60 Minutes\u201d\u009d aired Sunday, social media played a determining role in the race.<\/p>\n
In the past, Mr. Bremmer said, the concerns of Mr. Trump\u2019s supporters might have been ignored, and his candidacy would almost certainly have foundered. After all, he was universally written off by just about every mainstream pundit, and he faced disadvantages in money, organization and access to traditional political expertise. Yet by putting out a message that resonated with people online, Mr. Trump hacked through every established political order.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough this new technology, people are now empowered to express their grievances and to follow people they see as echoing their grievances,\u201d\u009d Mr. Bremmer said. \u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for social media, I don\u2019t see Trump winning.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n