The Democrats, and the Republicans as well actually, completely failed to appreciate the influence of social media on public opinion. Only #Trump and to a lesser extent, Bernie Sanders, successfully utilized these new media tools. Trump understands the dynamic better than anyone.
The establishment dismisses Twitter as trivial, without comprehending the importance of triviality in the culture.
Yes, you can’t really say anything of substance in 140 characters; but you can say something flippant, something absurd, something controversial, something polarizing, and you can deliver very, very simplistic messages that generate debate and discussion, outrage and hilarity. And the end result of all that, is that it makes you familiar to people, and it makes you an engine of discourse.
It is not a problem for a public figure to elicit hatred. It is only a problem if he or she elicits indifference. Strange as it may sound, hate, like any obsession, is a form of attraction.