The problem with politics
Gen Z tends to think that we are this ground-breaking generation that defies boundaries and barriers, but so many of us are falling for the simplest advertising. With the new Democratic party candidate Kamala Harris, many liberals are falling into a “Kamala is my queen” attitude, while conservatives are sticking to their Trump-worshiping mindset.
While social media has been prominent in past elections, candidates have never before used it on such a grand scale. Campaigns are making more use of mainstream social media platforms, with accounts posting 10-15 TikToks a day. Mainstream news has usually been how people keep up with elections, and the increasing focus on social media in this election negatively impacts how we think about politics. We’re leaning away from critically thinking about a candidate’s policies and moving towards thinking about which candidate can make the other look like the bigger idiot on the internet.
Getting younger voters has been a huge focus for Harris this election, so TikTok is like a gold mine for her. 80% of its American users are ages 16-34, according to Wallaroo Media. Harris’ campaign advertising on TikTok is nothing short of marketing genius. The team behind the @kamalahq account, previously @bidenhq, uses specific tactics to appeal to younger voters. Some of these include showing younger people talking positively about Harris as if it’s on their personal account, taking part in trends, posting memes and making fun of former President Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance every chance they get. But the genius behind it is unfortunate. It has become disappointing to see so many comments under the account’s meme posts calling Harris “iconic” and saying how she has their vote due to her social media presence rather than her policies. Kamala Harris is not a meme icon. She is not “brat.” She is a politician.
Trump’s team is using a similar strategy, as he has a Kamala HQ copycat account called @teamtrump on TikTok, which only started posting in July. Catching on to Harris’s meme-centered social media campaigning, Trump’s team has been copying her tactics, as the same meme and Gen Z tailored content appears there. Trump has been known to cause an uproar due to his controversial posts, formerly on X (Twitter) and not on Truth Social. However, his presence on TikTok is completely different. The Team Trump account is run by people who are specifically pandering to Gen Z using meme posts, not Trump himself.
Recently, Trump has collaborated with several well-known internet celebrities. At a rally in September, YouTuber Kyle Forgeard, a member of the social media group Nelk, gave his support for Trump and called out vice presidential candidate Tim Walz’ 95% tax on Zyn nicotine pouches in Minnesota. Tiktok influencer Bryce Hall also stated his support for the Republican candidate. YouTubers turned boxers Jake and Logan Paul have also publicly shown their support for Trump, sending their teenage fans to make their own content supporting Trump.
It’s only natural for politicians to want to advertise, but the flaw is the people falling for it. A candidate’s ability to pay people to post funny things on social media in no way influences how effective they will be as president. As the novelty of this new TikTok-heavy campaigning dies down, it’s time to not let ourselves be influenced by what we see on the internet.
We’re already starting to see the effects of a more digitized election season. There was only one debate between Trump and Harris, Harris didn’t have her first sit-down interview until nearly two months after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and mainstream media has been both stunned and fascinated with the trends formed by the Team Trump and Kamala HQ accounts.
This shift away from mainstream media in politics could lead us to be more misinformed than ever. While mainstream media outlets have biases, they are still fairly reliable and use research. But on social media, information needs no basis in fact. If we keep believing everything we see on the internet and forming our political opinions based on memes and not fact, this next generation of voters will become completely uninformed. We need to stop treating our presidential candidates like celebrities and influencers, and as possible future leaders of the entire country.
