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Something strange is happening in the world of politics right now. Candidates are reaching out to young social media influencers, hoping for endorsements that can then be re-posted, shared, and liked all over social media. And they are turning to memes and GIFs as a way to change existing narratives. As a result, social media has a very real chance to influence the outcome of the 2024 presidential election.
The DNC social media experiment
Nowhere was the role of social media more prominent than at the recent Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago. The Democrats invited 200 content creators to have front-row seats at the event, and 5 of the biggest names were actually invited on stage to talk. Combined, these 5 influencers had 23 million followers.
The strategy is clear: get these content creators involved, and then let them amplify carefully-tuned campaign messages. In fact, even the Democrats admit that the goal was not to speak about policy issues, only to tell the story of the Harris campaign. You know, because it’s all about vibes this year.
It’s still unclear just how much of an impact this social media experiment will have on the eventual outcome of the race, but it did result in a brief bounce in the polls headed out of Chicago. All told, the DNC raked in nearly 350 million views across all social media platforms, so some people were very obviously engaged around this content.
The importance of the youth vote
Much of this content was intended to appeal to key demographic groups, such as the LGBT community, abortion activists, people of color, and voters in the 18-to-34 age group. While all of these demographic groups are obviously important, there’s one that’s more important than others, and that’s the youth vote.
According to Democratic strategists, the November election will hinge on the youth vote. And, as they see it, a Converse-wearing Kamala has a better chance of garnering this youth vote than Donald Trump. In fact, based on current polling data, she’s ahead in this key demographic, and it’s not even close.
As might be expected, much of the content that social media influencers are creating is based on winning over the TikTok generation, including many who may have never voted before. The goal is to activate these undecided and first-time voters.
Thus, you are just as likely to find funny “coconut memes” featuring Kamala Harris as you are substantive YouTube videos explaining a particular issue or topic. And you are more likely to find clips of Kamala Harris appearing on “Oprah”, than you are to find her appearing on a more staid Sunday morning political news show.
The big takeaway
So if Kamala Harris does end up winning the election, pay careful attention to the voting patterns of young voters. If there is conclusive proof that TikTok voters gave their vote to Kamala and tipped the election in her favor, you can be sure that social media will continue to be a popular campaign tactic as we head into the 2026 midterm elections as well.
