The White House seems to be toying with people on social media. Two mysterious videos posted to the White House’s official X and Instagram accounts on Wednesday night generated buzz online, with the purpose of the short, vertically shot clips unclear with one video later being deleted.
Reuters’ reports on the videos are below:
The first video, posted around 9:15 p.m. ET, appeared to be filmed on a smartphone, with the camera pointed at someone’s feet. In the four-second-long video, a female voice can be heard asking, “It’s launching soon, right?”
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A line of text on the screen says “sound on.” The video was later removed from the White House’s accounts on X and Instagram roughly 90 minutes after it was posted.
The second short video, posted at 10 p.m. ET, showed a black, staticky screen with a phone notification sound playing. An American flag was visible in one frame. The post included emojis of a smartphone and sound.
Now, it is not clear whether the White House handle was hacked or if the Trump administration is trying its hand at some sort of viral marketing.
These brief and cryptic social media posts from the White House suggest a shift in how government communication is being experimented with in the digital age. Rather than relying solely on formal statements or press releases, these short, ambiguous videos appear designed to engage audiences through curiosity and interactivity, leveraging the rapid, snackable nature of modern social media platforms. This strategy indicates an understanding that attention spans are short, and that unusual or mysterious content can spark widespread discussion and speculation, amplifying reach far beyond traditional channels.