Forget Policy: Social Media Influencers Are America’s New Campaign Managers

 

TikTok dances and influencer challenges have more power over the minds of young voters than any debate stage ever will—welcome to politics in the age of dopamine addiction.

The 2024 U.S. elections are not just a contest of policies, promises, and political parties—they're a battle fought through TikTok dances, Twitter threads, and Facebook posts. In a world where a well-placed emoji can mean the difference between trending and tanking, social media platforms have emerged as the true influencers of public perception. The likes of TikTok, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter) are shaping voter behavior, especially among the younger demographics, in ways that traditional campaign strategies could never have imagined. Whether you love it or loathe it, it seems that these digital platforms are now the de facto campaign managers of the modern era.

TikTok, the video-sharing app with over 150 million American users, has rapidly transformed from a dance challenge playground to a political battleground. In the lead-up to the elections, candidates and political movements have been using TikTok to spread their messages, particularly targeting younger voters. Kamala Harris’s campaign, for instance, has embraced the platform, collaborating with influencers and encouraging political engagement through challenges and viral content. With a user base mostly composed of Gen Z, TikTok's influence is especially powerful. Young voters are less likely to consume news from traditional outlets, and instead, they're getting political updates between cooking tutorials and cat videos. This shift in how political information is disseminated has dramatically altered how candidates reach the younger electorate.

Yet, not all TikTok users are enthusiastic voters. Recent polling data from Cygnal has indicated that many young TikTok users, particularly those in lower-income brackets or with less formal education, are unlikely to vote. Despite Kamala Harris and her campaign investing millions of dollars into influencer collaborations, the return on that investment in terms of actual voter turnout remains uncertain. Nevertheless, these efforts reflect the campaign's awareness that if they want to get their message across to the youth, they need to speak their language—and TikTok is the perfect platform for that.

But TikTok isn’t the only platform that’s playing a pivotal role. Facebook, or Meta as it's now officially called, is still a major player when it comes to political influence. Despite the controversies surrounding it, including data privacy issues and the spread of misinformation, Facebook remains one of the most utilized platforms for political advertising. Harris’s campaign and its allies have spent over $182 million on ads via Meta and Google, compared to just $45 million spent by Trump’s campaign. The vast amount of money poured into Meta platforms underscores how much campaigns still believe in the power of social media advertising. Facebook’s expansive reach across age groups gives it a unique edge, providing campaigns access not just to the younger Gen Z voters but also to older generations who still frequent the platform.

Not to be outdone, X (formerly Twitter) has also seen its role in shaping political discourse grow more contentious, especially since Elon Musk’s acquisition of the platform. Musk, a figure with an opinion on just about everything, hasn’t been shy about sharing his political preferences. His open endorsement of Donald Trump has turned X into a sort of digital megaphone for Trump’s campaign. While some see Musk’s behavior as a refreshing exercise in free speech, others view it as an abuse of power, with a billionaire using his platform to influence an election. Since Musk took over, X has become a hotspot for misinformation, with fewer content moderators and more lenient policies on fact-checking. The platform has become a chaotic blend of memes, misinformation, and serious political debate—a reflection of Musk’s often contradictory approach to both business and politics.

What makes the influence of these platforms even more fascinating is the fact that many of the most impactful messages aren’t coming from the candidates themselves but rather from ordinary users and influencers. A seemingly random 15-year-old in London can post a video about U.S. politics on TikTok and receive hundreds of thousands of views, illustrating just how decentralized political influence has become. The democratization of content creation has led to a situation where anyone, anywhere, can sway opinions and potentially influence voter behavior. But this also means that misinformation can spread like wildfire, unchecked and unchallenged, contributing to confusion among voters.

Investigations have already revealed just how vulnerable platforms like TikTok and Facebook are to the spread of misinformation. Both platforms have been caught approving advertisements containing blatant falsehoods about voting procedures and requirements. Fake news about weather manipulation, election rigging, and other outlandish conspiracy theories has managed to slip through content moderation systems, reaching millions of users. The platforms’ attempts to counteract this with fact-checking and content warnings have been, at best, a game of whack-a-mole. For every piece of misinformation that gets taken down, another pops up, spreading across the network like a virus. It’s a sobering reminder of the double-edged sword that social media has become—a tool for both enlightenment and deception.

It’s not just politicians who are leveraging these platforms; celebrities and musicians are also jumping into the fray, using their vast followings to make political statements. Taylor Swift, for example, has been very vocal about her political beliefs, urging her fans to register to vote. Swift’s influence is not something to be underestimated—her endorsement of a particular candidate or cause can lead to spikes in voter registrations, especially among young people. The intertwining of music and politics has been a trend that only seems to be growing. Barack Obama was one of the first to recognize the power of music in politics, with his carefully curated playlists, but Swift and other artists have taken it to a whole new level, blending entertainment and activism in a way that is both powerful and, at times, controversial.

But while the influence of TikTok, Facebook, and X can be a force for good, encouraging political participation and spreading important messages, it also poses significant risks. The blending of entertainment and politics has led to a situation where the lines between information and propaganda are increasingly blurred. Young voters, who might lack the historical context or critical thinking skills to separate fact from fiction, are especially vulnerable. The algorithms that these platforms use are designed to keep users engaged—they prioritize content that is sensational, emotionally charged, and likely to provoke a reaction. This often means that the content most likely to go viral is not necessarily the most accurate or informative but rather the most entertaining or outrageous.

Social media’s impact on the 2024 elections has also highlighted the growing role of data in political campaigns. Campaigns are using data collected from social media interactions to tailor their messages and target specific demographics more effectively. This hyper-targeted approach has its benefits—it allows campaigns to speak directly to voters’ interests and concerns—but it also raises significant privacy issues. The Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018 showed just how easily data can be misused, and despite promises of reform, concerns remain about how much data platforms are collecting and how it’s being used.

There’s an old saying that “a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes,” and nowhere is this more evident than on social media. A misleading tweet or a fabricated TikTok video can gain millions of views in a matter of hours, while fact-checkers scramble to keep up. The influence that these platforms wield over the electorate cannot be overstated. They have become the modern-day public square—a place where ideas are exchanged, arguments are had, and, unfortunately, where misinformation is often spread without consequence.

As we head into the final stretch of the 2024 election season, one thing is clear: the campaigns that are best able to navigate the chaotic waters of social media will have a distinct advantage. Platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and X aren’t just tools for communication—they’re battlegrounds where public perception is won or lost. The candidates who understand this—who can master the art of the viral moment, who can leverage endorsements from influencers, and who can effectively counter misinformation—will be the ones who come out on top. The rest will be left wondering how they lost an election to a dance video.

And perhaps that’s the real irony here. In a country that prides itself on the democratic process, on the power of ideas and debate, it may very well be that the future of American politics is decided not in the halls of Congress or on the debate stage but in a 30-second clip set to a catchy pop song. It’s democracy in the age of distraction—and it’s as unpredictable as it is unavoidable.