Whether you love him, hate him, or somewhere in between, Donald Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton last year was nothing short of a spectacle. Between Trump’s breaks in formality, or his numerous bold promises, he presented himself in such a way that made it very clear that he was perhaps the most unorthodox candidate to win the presidency in American history.

Now, a year into the Trump presidency, the line is clearly drawn between Trump’s loyal backers and his fierce opposition. These days, more so than ever, it seems that everybody ​has a strong opinion either way, making politics feel like an almost unavoidable topic even at dinner table conversation. It is not unfounded to say that Donald Trump is the catalyst for this rekindling of political debate going around our nation.

Evidence of this can be seen as early as the debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton last year where, according to CNN, a record number of people tuned in to see the potential presidents duke it out. This was the largest viewership a debate has gotten in their 60 year history of broadcasting and this has a lot to do with the unorthodoxy that is Donald Trump and his draw to viewers. Following the debate, the internet was also turned upside down with everything from critical analysis to captioned photos of the candidates made by people even younger than me in some cases. Trump’s expansive popularity, be it positive or negative, across all social media, has contributed substantially to his insane levels of popularity.

One such platform for this would be Twitter. We are lucky(?) to have a president that is very active on social media. Trump is the only president besides Barack Obama to have access to such a platform allowing him to broadcast any number of statements across a massive audience of the American people in seconds. As with everything else, Trump’s Twitter use has caused many debates over his lack of a professional tone, poor handling of sensitive topics, even the fact that he uses Twitter is up for debate still between some people who argue it’s not the place for the president to be spreading his ideas. Creating outcry over a massive social media platform clearly involves a large portion of the youth that usually felt left out or disillusioned with politics. With these new debates hitting closer to areas adolescents are involved, such as the tweet described in this op-ed article by Rex Huppke [Feb 19, 2018/ Chicago Tribune], it allows teenagers who are already growing up in a generation filled to the brim with social movements, protests, and the like, to put their two cents in as well, slowly developing a political opinion of their own which they pit against others.

Trump’s actions can be thrown into a positive or negative light as with most presidents, but his connections to modern technology and the following that he amassed from his informal attitude and his use of social media has ensured that every step he takes will face criticism from at least one American citizen which will, in turn, cause another to disagree. This cycle of weekly, possibly even daily debate has sparked a renaissance of interest in American politics that will likely change the course of all elections to come. From where we stand now however, all it does is ensure that nothing Donald Trump does goes by quietly.