Social media logos on Cupcakes. Photo Credit: European Parliament Photostream on Flickr
Social media has changed the game, allowing politicians to reach a wide variety of voters in an instant.
As digital spaces continue to evolve, it is no longer optional for politicians to utilize these channels to their advantage. Social media has become an essential tool that can make or break a campaign.
Former President Barack Obama was the first “social media president”, according to the article The Digital Transition. He was the first to have a “POTUS” account on twitter, the first to go live on Facebook and the first to answer questions from citizens on YouTube.
Today, Obama still utilizes the media to educate voters and citizens on the importance of voting as well as bringing awareness to current events. His ability to reach communities through social media is admirable. Likewise, many politicians today must take advantage of the media channels, reaching out to as many communities as they can.
Social media is being used by many as a news outlet, where people turn to find the latest stories across the world.
According to the Pew Research, many Americans are getting their news from TikTok. This has been a growing medium since 2020, allowing users to get the latest news in just a few seconds instead of tuning in to televised news channels.
If done right, politicians have the chance to meet their audiences where they are – social media.
In modern campaigns, door-to-door campaigning and televised debates are no longer enough. Social media has become has risen to become arguably the most impactful way to engage with constituents, supporters and public opinion.
Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign highlights the effectiveness of using social media. Strategically meeting her audience where they were, Harris’ campaign used social media trends and memes to engage young adults. This was a strategy that put pushed her campaign to hundreds of millions of people in running against her opponent, President Donald Trump, just last year.
Harris’ team tried to reach the youth in three main ways: organizing on college campuses, meeting young people outside college and using online platforms. These strategies were successfully executed as the campaign’s main social media account reached over 1.3 million followers on X and 4 million on TikTok.
Moreover, Harris’ campaign used social media’s admiration for artists like Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, Megan thee stallion and Michelle Obama to get her campaign message across. Although Harris lost the presidential race to her opponent, these strategies were some of the most successful in the history of political campaigning through social media.
President Donald Trump social media use has been infamous, but effective.
In his first term, he used X to reach a mass of supporters. Today, as the 47th US President, Trump is using his own social media platform, TruthSocial, to announce fundamental changes to the U.S. policy.
Trump’s use of social media has come under much scrutiny than most. Nevertheless, the President’s social media accounts are followed by 37 million people on Instagram, 1.6 on X and over 6.91 million on TruthSocial.
Although the President lacks poise on social media, he has successfully used it to his advantage by growing his supporters.
While social media continues to evolve, for politicians, being active should not be seen as an option but a necessity.
