connection with Youth has long been a skill that has been eschewed by older adults, and older adults are a demographic defined less by their age and more by their social media habits. Politicians have historically not prioritized reaching out to young voters.
However, in recent elections, the turnout of young people has increased. Democrats secured major victoriesand with the 2024 presidential election just around the corner, Republicans still lag behind In digital strategy. Age alone is not enough to get voters between the ages of 18 and 29, who overwhelmingly supported Democrats in the midterm elections, to turn up to the polls.
Candidates are expected to be content creators as well as politicians. For example, Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman became a TikTok star during his campaign. Fetterman’s apparent meme fluency, from trolling his opponent Mehmet Oz to jumping on trending TikTok sounds, made him hugely popular with young voters.
Some on both the left and right were fumbling with their social media strategies, compulsively quoting pop culture and trying desperately to be cool. They were dismissed as disgusting and branded worse than any scarlet letter.
For those who didn’t grow up online, digital fluency doesn’t necessarily come naturally. Not good at posting? Hire a strategist.
Introducing digital strategist Annie Wu Henry. “TikTok Whisper” Behind Fetterman’s campaign. In an interview with TechCrunch, Henry explained: What was right, where did it fall, and why Gen Z doesn’t put up with shit.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
TC: So you worked with Fetterman. Obviously, this makes you an expert in this field, right? What was your first reaction when you saw Jake Paul supporting Vivek Ramaswamy?
AWH: If they’re doing it, I think overall we’re going to see more of that cultural theater. Many of the influencers we see as likely to be right-wing are political figures, like Joe Rogan. Joe Rogan’s podcast is not a “political podcast.” Even Andrew Tate is not a political figure. Obviously, it’s all political.
But these people are very much part of the right-wing media, all kinds of media ecosystems that allow these ideologies to be perpetuated in cultural and pervasive ways. If they were only spewed out by politicians and political insiders, they wouldn’t have the same reach.
For example, I’m a young woman of color. I’m quite politically active. I like what I keep doing, what kind of music I listen to, etc., but I don’t get much out of these things. For example, I didn’t know that Andrew Tate had a brother until he came into the world. I try to avoid his content because I don’t want to get any more out of it, but I think these platforms know that I’m not the target audience that’s likely to stay interested in that content. Doesn’t provide much content. But I also talk to male friends who are my age, in their 20s, 30s, and even younger. Even if they don’t want to see something like that, that’s all they can give.
So I think someone like Jake Paul could easily fit into that category. And because he started his YouTube campaign, especially targeting young people, he’s right in an area that could have a huge impact if used by right-wing people and politicians.
absolutely. I talked to a professor who studies political influencers and he said, We’re obviously seeing a whole group of influencers who are basing their entire platforms around social issues, and yet there’s another class of creators who just happen to be giving something away. Show your support. And the question is, who has more influence?
This is something I would like to work on more in my work. Because there are people on both the left and the right who have this class of political influence. And in many cases, these people are a really great way to get information out, get people to take action, keep young people informed and engaged. It’s not exactly the same as watching C-SPAN every day, but it does go into great depth on many of these issues. It’s pretty consistent news.
Therefore, it is very good to educate the youth on these platforms. But how we understand these algorithms and things like For You Pages to work is that people are interested in receiving that information, they’re interested in receiving that content. That means you have to show that.
For example, if you’re into sports, or you’re into comedy, or whatever it is, you’re interested enough in those platforms to engage in a natural way and stay active. If there are people who are , they will continue to be fed the content they want, by the people they want. Some reports about news will no longer appear on your For You page because the algorithms and these platforms will say, “This is not what this person is likely to engage with.”
So I think there’s a lot of power, especially for people who are political, apolitical, or disengaged, to be influenced more by people who are not “political influencers.”
It’s often easier to get politically influential people to talk about these things. Because that’s what they care about and spend their time and energy on. But that’s when other people get political, and it doesn’t even have to be in a big way. They might be talking about an issue that’s happening in the news or something that just happens to have a political overtone.
Again, in the case of Jake Paul, I don’t think people think they’re being given political content, even if it turns out that way, right?
So, knowing the influence Jake Paul has on people who, frankly, are probably not interested in politics, is it a calculated move by the Ramaswamy camp to specifically choose Jake Paul over a right-wing Twitch streamer? Do you think it was? Because when I first saw this, I thought, “They probably don’t know anything about TikTok.” Why would they choose Jake Paul? ”
So the right thinks some of their actions are unintentional.
That’s what I was wondering.
Not as intentionally clever as it sometimes is, right? I’ve been watching Vivek’s TikTok expansion and some of the things he’s doing have his TikTok strategy behind it, whether intentional or not.
For example, many of Jake Paul’s TikTok followers are likely apolitical. I think his demographics are like a 12-year-old he’s a 25-year-old boy.
The approval didn’t mention much about the issue. He just said he cares about young people and he’s going to change and that’s what young people want from politicians. Young people don’t trust the system and don’t have very strong loyalties to political parties.
His first TikTok wasn’t about anyone in particular, and if he wrote it down and someone read it, that’s what young people want. It’s someone who is different, someone who is not going to be a corrupt politician, someone who is outside the system, someone who understands your problems. A lot of his messages are about how Gen Z, especially those on that platform, want to be talked to.
But I caution against all this by saying that as a candidate, this actually makes it difficult to be fully effective. Because, I forget what he called it, but he criticizes TikTok…
He said it was digital fentanyl or something like that.
Chinese-made digital fentanyl. He wants to strip people between the ages of 18 and 25 from voting unless they serve in the military or take a civics exam. I’m a professional citizen, but I don’t think that’s what he has in mind. I think this is a form of voter suppression, as he wants it to be.
His attacks on young people probably nullify any good strategy that happened by chance, right? That’s why you see young people who are engaged and trying to go for it and trying to troll and judge him in the comments.
If you watch this video and don’t even know who it is and think, “He’s making a good point,” but then you see him being relentlessly trolled by young people, you have doubts. should appear.
In general, the reason why the right has had problems communicating effectively with Gen Z and effectively participating in these spaces is because many of their messages and stances are overwhelmingly disliked by Gen Z. This is because it is a thing.
Mr. Fetterman’s campaign is one that all candidates seeking to capture the youth vote seek to emulate. What is missing on the right side?
I think it’s really difficult for a lot of people on the right. They will act contrary to what they say. Even though Gen Z sees it and knows something about that generation, they don’t buy it.
This is exactly what platforms like TikTok and Twitch offer and why they thrive on these platforms. Because while you take out your phone and get ready, you can talk at the worst possible angle…
I think it’s really difficult, with Vivec as a prime example, to say this is digital fentanyl and to get up on stage and say, “This is where you are, so I’m here.” You want to get rid of this, so why are you really here? None of it actually feels real.