April Eichmeier, assistant professor of emerging media at the University of St. Thomas College of Arts and Sciences, recently spoke with Mpls.St.Paul Magazine about how campaigns are using social media to engage Gen Z voters, especially through platforms like TikTok.
From the story:
Each presidential election cycle ushers in a new generation of voters. And candidates tend to spend an outsize chunk of their campaigning attempting to court this young, possibly-still-malleable group.
“It’s nothing new,” says April Eichmeier, an assistant professor at the University of St. Thomas who studies political communication. “After all, Gen X had Bill Clinton going on late-night shows.” But this generation of voters won’t be found in those audiences – they’re on TikTok. ...
During the last presidential election, TikTok was still reaching ubiquitous levels of prevalence. But now, more than 170 million Americans use the video app – many in their teens and early 20s.
“Authenticity can be so hard to feel in campaigns, but TikTok is a platform that really values it,” Eichmeier says. “The Harris-Walz campaign is letting Gen Z run their TikTok to connect with Gen Z voters.”
