How Gen Z's Use of Social Media Could Sway the Election
Recently, Saturday Night Live released a skit poking fun at the user experience of scrolling through TikTok’s ForYouPage.
The snippet that got the biggest laugh from me — and the most attention — was a spoof where Vice President Kamala Harris, played by Maya Rudolph, strikes power poses and delivers verbal putdowns set to club music.
More from SheKnows
If this sounds bizarre to you, well, truth is stranger than fiction. SNL was referring directly here to the @kamalahq account on TikTok, where 5 million followers tune in to watch daily videos — typically edits of the presidential candidate set to trending music and using captions targeted to Gen Z, like “she’s so real” and “I think I’ve seen this film before.”
Spoofs are intended to make people laugh, yes, and the SNL skit does just that while raising a larger question: How successful is social media in influencing Gen Z voters? The short answer: very. For example, the Trump campaign just broke onto the Snapchat scene this week. The Harris campaign has spent $7.8 million in Snapchat advertising since March. And Gen Z is paying attention: when SheKnows polled our Gen Z council members, more than half of the respondents answered “yes” to the question, “Do you follow any politicians on social media?”
According to Forbes, nearly half of Gen Z — 46 percent — turn first to social media for their informational needs. Snapchat specifically reports having more than 100 million users in the United States (almost one-third of the total U.S. population, for context), over half of which are Gen Z. Social media, with its huge Gen Z user base, and Gen Z, many of whom use social media to get their news, are inextricably linked.
For both the Harris and Trump campaigns, it’s worth capturing their attention. A full 41 million members of Gen Z will be eligible to vote in this election — more than 8 million of those for the first time — which makes them one of the largest voting blocs. The way that both campaigns are using social media has real potential to sway Gen Z’s political opinions (teens are already more susceptible than adults to online conspiracies) and directly affect election results come November 5.
Perhaps the most notable way that both campaigns are reaching teens is through political content. However, rather disturbingly, influencers who tout political endorsements to their oftentimes millions of followers do not have to disclose when a campaign pays them to do so. Unlike product placements, where an influencer is required to make clear that a brand paid them to promote said product, political influencing necessitates no disclaimer or admission of campaign money or involvement.
Therefore, it’s important for Gen Z to know that much of the political content they see on their social media feeds is paid posts straight from the campaigns themselves, rather than the independent ideas of social media influencers.
And perhaps even more importantly, it’s necessary that parents recognize the extent to which social media influences their children — and talk to their teens about the consequences of that influencing in the upcoming election.
In addition to over half of our SheKnows Gen Z Council reporting that they follow at least one politician on social media, 70 percent of respondents answered “yes” to the question, “Are you comfortable being public about your political views/identity?” while the other 30 percent answered, “not sure.” If you’re parenting a kid who’s still exploring their political identity, then having conversations about evaluating the sources is especially salient as your children work to develop their political opinions. If you’re a parent of a kid who knows where they stand politically, and who’s likely receive a slew of like-minded political content to their social media feeds, know that they are still susceptible to being “influenced.”
Gen Z is both heavily influenced and highly influential in terms of the upcoming election. With that being said, knowledge is power, and the best way to empower your Gen Z teen is to ensure that they are informed about the ways in which campaigns are reaching them — before they head to the ballot box.
Best of SheKnows
Sign up for SheKnows' Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Solve the daily Crossword
