Scrolling For Votes

How Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are using social media to market themselves in the upcoming election

Social media is playing an increasingly important role in political campaigns, with platforms like TikTok reshaping how politicians reach younger audiences, especially as traditional news outlets lose viewership and people gravitate towards bite-size clips to stay informed. Candidates are now leaning on viral trends, emotional appeal, and collaborations with influencers to attract voters who have largely moved away from the mainstream media. For example, Kamala has recently collaborated with creators Issac Rochell, and Lauren Hines, while Trump had, notably, Hulk Hogan and Jason Aldean at the RNC in July. Logan Paul, a popular YouTuber, also did collaborations with Trump recently.

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump turn to social media to present their campaigns in ways that often feel more like entertainment than serious political discussion. A key example of this is Kamala Harris’s 'brat' campaign, which has taken TikTok by storm, raising questions about the evolving role of social media in politics today. One particular video where she is clipped saying “you think you just fell out of a coconut tree” has been used by the left to portray her as a girl boss and a fun and relatable candidate; while it has been used by the right to cast her as a fool and not as a serious politician.

This trend is somewhat new, as the rise of social media has led to political campaigns turning their focus to other platforms to get their messages out. More and more Americans are tuning out CNN, Fox News, and other mainstream news outlets. According to Pew Research, the average number of televisions that watched ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox for their nightly news was down from 4 million in 2016, to just over 2 million in 2022.

The mainstream news is trying to combat the loss of viewership. For example, CNN attempted to get into the streaming game with CNN+, and it became an embarrassing failure; shutting down just one month after its launch. In the first two weeks after CNN+ launched, 150,000 subscribers paid for CNN+. Yet, fewer than 10,000 people watched it daily, but CNBC has since reported that it has been lower, closer to 4,000. This catastrophic failure highlights three things; consumers’ unwillingness to pay for news, a widespread lack of trust in mainstream media, and a desire for short-form instead of long-form content because of the entertainment appeal.

Let’s start with the fact that people don’t see the need to pay for news when many independent sites, YouTube channels, and podcasts, which all became increasingly popular during the pandemic, are mostly free and give people free news for often the same or better quality. The internet has created an expectation that content is free. Music is free with ads, TV shows are often free with ads, and while some journalism sites have adapted their subscription programs to appeal more to consumers, it’s not enough to keep up. Unfortunately, many people nowadays just don’t place that high of a priority on keeping up with current events. Independent news sites make most of their revenue on advertising and don’t need subscriptions to make profits, while advertising isn’t enough for big companies, which is why many major newspapers have had to lay off many employees in recent years.

Additionally, a severe distrust for mainstream news outlets is at fault; as of 2022, Gallup reported that only 34% of Americans agree that mainstream media outlets report the news "fully, accurately and fairly,” and as a result, many are tuning into social media to get their news. So, it’s no surprise that candidates have followed suit and pushed their agendas digitally.

Lastly, many have grown tired of reading articles about the news and are looking for new, more entertaining ways of consuming news. Many have turned to social media for the short-term appeal so they don’t have to spend time and energy reading. The main issue is people may not be aware they're only getting a small and often misleading representation of an issue or news event. It's no surprise that division among Americans is growing when many of us are misinformed or under informed about important issues.

Additionally, it’s detracting from substantive political discourse. Both Kamala and Trump are guilty of sidestepping discussions on specific policies and instead promoting emotionally charged content that captures viewers’ attention. Instead of helping voters become more informed, this approach leaves them less knowledgeable about actual issues and contributes to a decline in the quality of political debate.

Americans today are far more easily swayed by emotional claims rather than listening to both candidates' policies, and politicians are taking advantage of this to help themselves win elections. Young people, specifically Gen Z, don’t consume news like older generations; only 4% read daily prints, and 50% or more use social media as their primary source of news. Additionally, among 18-24 year olds, only 16% say they are interested in current events, highlighting the declining interest. Both Kamala and Trump are highly motivated to win votes in this age group, and having their support could mean the difference between winning and losing in this very tight election.

The point of this article isn’t to favor one political candidate over the other but instead to motivate all of us to be more informed voters. The Republican and Democratic parties both understand that our attention spans are short, and issues that evoke an emotional response have a high correlation with how we vote. The Stanford Graduate School of Business says, “Something like 90 to 95% of our decisions and behaviors are constantly being shaped non-consciously by the emotional brain system.” This staggering number highlights the importance of becoming aware of the fact that everything you consume has a purpose, whether to inform, persuade, or entertain, and learning to cast doubt on everything we hear helps to understand what that purpose is.

Instead of basing your vote in the presidential election on what you see in your TikTok feed, it's crucial that more Americans research and delve into each candidate’s policies to make informed choices. Read news from multiple different sources to get a balanced perspective on issues, and although it’s cliche to say, don’t trust everything you see on the internet, especially when it comes to politics. Although mainstream media outlets have good intentions, they can also be heavily biased, so make sure to learn from independent sources too. Read about the candidate's policies, instead of just making assumptions about what they want. Be informed, and at the end of the day, make the right decision for you, because the voters are the ones at the end of the day who decide the election.