#48 - This is Why Trump shouldn't use Tech before Bed
As I write this blog, the sun has set on the White House a day after the 2020 Election.
‘The Poles’ - as Trump likes to call them - are too close to call.
Update! Trump has corrected his spelling to ‘The Polls’ in today’s infamous tweet
So today’s blog is going to demonstrate why a ‘smart’ phone in Donald Trump’s hand is not the best for him (but at least it keeps his hands off the nuke button)!
Twitter and the Twit
Never before have we seen a United States president communicate directly to the people via social media.
And Trump’s weapon of choice is Twitter.
But we knew this was coming, as he was prolific on Twitter leading up to the 2016 Election.
And before we go any further, most of us initially assume that Trump is the only one that tweets from his account.
But that is not true.
Many high profile people allow multiple users to access and use their social media accounts.
And Trump has been no different.
Weapon of Choice
Leading up to the 2016 Election, there was a single user on an Android phone who was tweeting from @realdonaldtrump - mostly in the early morning and late evening.
Multiple users were tweeting from this account on ‘Miscellaneous Devices’ (eg, PC computers) - primarily during work hours.
There were also multiple users from iPhones tweeting from the same account.
This information - along with semantic analysis of tweet contents - suggest Trump was tweeting from the Android phone.
How Does Trump Sleep?
Analysis of the Android phone’s activity leading up to the 2016 Election suggests Trump:
spent about 7 to 7.5 hours in bed
got about 6.5 hours of sleep
Again, this lack of sleep has been known for a while - straight from the horse’s mouth:
But it’s not just the amount of sleep that is important to us human beings, but also the timing of our internal clocks. Analysis of Trump’s tweets shows he:
is an early chronotype (ie, early to bed, early to rise)
Given Trump’s preference to be an early bird, his alertness and performance would be best in the morning - and worse in the evening.
As a man who suggests he is ahead of the science, he would surely know to avoid performing late at night - when his body clock tells him it’s time to go to bed.
MSF = mid-point of sleep on free days. The downward arrow shows Trump’s chronotype relative to the population.
person, woman, man, camera, tv …
Leading up to the 2016 Election, Trump was tweeting late at night - a time when he is not mentally at his best.
Nevertheless, he won that election (whether it was fair or not).
In the months following the 2016 Election, Trump refrained from said late-night tweets.
Double-plot of tweet activity from the Android phone. Downward arrow shows least frequent activity at 1:30 AM.
The 2020 Campaign
Rewards lead to an increased probability that we will repeat the same behaviour.
And winning an election to become a President of the United States is a massive reward.
Thus it is no surprise that Trump did not alter his behaviour leading up to the 2020 Election.
Specifically, he more frequently tweeted late at night.
In fact, it was a 317% increase (tweets between 11 PM - 2 AM)
But because he is not a man of science, he would refute what I’m about to tell you.
Analysis of his tweets show that his late night tweets resulted in:
7400 fewer likes per tweet
1300 fewer retweets per tweet
1400 fewer replies per tweet
Not only were his late night tweets less popular, but Trump was judged to be 3 times more angry during his speeches and interviews the day after a late night tweet (keep in mind, the people judging his emotions weren’t keeping track of his late night tweets).
Sleep science has consistently shown a link between restricted sleep and poor emotional regulation - including controlling one’s anger.
And staying up later means poor food choices that inevitably lead to increased caloric intake.
The Moral of This Story?
If you believe in science, the conclusion is simple:
give your mind and body enough time to rest and recover
avoid performing when your body clock says you should be lying down and relaxing
How do i find out my own chronotype?
If you subscribe to our free weekly newsletter, then you’ll receive the answer to this question on Sunday Nov 8th - so there’s still time to subscribe.
But - if you’re hoping that we’re gonna say your chronotype is a dolphin or wolf, then here’s a heads up…
We’re sleep scientists.
At last count, 110 published scientific studies (and that’s not counting the publications from other team members).
That’s 10% percent of Dr Fauci’s publications.
But it’s also 12 times more than that guy who twisted the science and said your chronotype is an animal.
If you drive a car, use electricity, and see a doctor when you get sick - then you’re being helped by science.
Stick with science - and stick with us.
Prof Mike Gradisar
Disclaimer: this blog was written after 6.5 hours of sleep, but during a period of the day when I should be awake. We would love to take this opportunity to acknowledge the creative research conducted by both Till Roenneberg (the world expert on chronotypes) and Meir Kryger (a world leading sleep medicine expert).