Dr. April Eichmeier, an assistant professor in the Emerging Media Department at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, was quoted by several local media outlets about the impact of social media on this year’s U.S. presidential race, as well as how Gov. Tim Walz is faring on social media as Kamala Harris’ vice presidential pick compared to the Trump-Vance campaign.
From KARE 11:
“Research shows that younger people, in more than other generations, are looking to social media for news and information,” said April Eichmeier, an emerging media professor at St. Thomas.
“I really think when campaigns are thinking about this, they’re really thinking about their campaign as a whole,” said Eichmeier. “So social media being a big part of it, particularly with Gen Z outreach.”
From MPR’s Minnesota Now with Cathy Wurzer:
Campaigns, of course, have to adjust based on which platform they’re on. And from the campaign manager’s perspective that highly complicates things, much more so than in the broadcast era when you ran a television commercial or sponsorship on the radio.
“Any time a campaign is making its own meme, it is of course taking a risk. Memes … can be spread very quickly. But the hard part about memes, and honestly, it’s because memes can have double meanings, and if you’re not precisely knowledgeable enough about what the meme is, it could possibly fly over the top of a potential audience member’s head. So of course, the campaign, I trust, has research on what its audience already knows. But when they put memes out, I’m sure it’s very considerate. You would certainly have to hope that it gets the reaction that you desire.”
From KSTP:
Eichmeier says the mediums for these candidates to make themselves known to those key younger voters might be new.
She believes social media, especially for Gen Z and younger voters, will be key in this election.
“On social media of course, it’s a different dynamic,” Eichmeier explains. “People can take content and remix it and make memes, and the campaign has less control over that.”
“Goal one is to define their candidate in a way that they believe will win the election. The other goal is to define the other candidate in a way that they believe will make them lose.”
