Social media plays a crucial role in today's society. Technology is continuously advancing and has found its way into every aspect of our lives, however older generations have not necessarily fully embraced these developments.
American political leaders are typically middle-aged, placing them in a targeted zone of mockery from younger generations. Oftentimes, social media can be the downfall of a political career by exposing past allegations or creating internet feuds over seemingly meaningless things. The world of social media has been, to be frank… not welcoming to most of our political candidates these past few years.
However, Kamala Harris and her team has been very smart thus far in her campaign by using social media in order to gain the likes of young voters. Her social media team has been very responsive to every single trend big or small. This could have a large impact on polling because it is typically young voters that make or break an election.
Young voters oftentimes don't feel connected to a candidate or their policies, making them miss out on the polls. For candidates like Harris, the young voters will likely decide the result of the popular vote. I am, however, scared that her social media has been overly catered to people that are too young to vote. Her posts are highly influenced by gen-z and even gen-alpha culture, which is a good way to gain young voters. Much of her content, therefore, can be seen as wasted on people who have no impact on the election. Young people have deemed Kamala Harris, “brat” (a positive term, coined by singer songwriter Charli XCX) and even the beginning of a “femininnominon” - in other words: she represents a female revolution.
I have observed that Kamala has really used her youth as an advantage in this election especially because she is newer in the political spotlight despite being in the game for a while. Voters still do not know much about Kamala because to them she is still new and fresh compared to Trump who has been a very distinct character on social media for years. Kamala gives a sense of hope for young women not only through her policies but also by possibly being the first female president and the second president of color.
For many young women who aspire to be in the political realm, Harris gives them a sense of hope. No matter your political party, having a young woman of color on the ballot is exciting!