More than 67 million viewers tuned in live to watch the first presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump on ABC News Tuesday night, but despite watch parties across campus, not all USC students made time for the debate.
Whether it was due to busy class schedules or sheer avoidance, some students decided to watch recaps on social media while others watched partially. According to Nielsen research, however, young people drove viewership numbers Tuesday — 53% more viewers aged 18-49 tuned in for Harris’ matchup against Trump than President Joe Biden’s debate against Trump on June 27 — according to the New York Times.
Trenyce Tong, a senior majoring in art, said they have never watched a presidential debate in its entirety, and Tuesday’s was no exception. Tong said they felt that watching the behavior of the candidates on stage has become the main point of the debates — not necessarily the policies or plans of either party.
“They aren’t a super detailed comprehensive report on their policy because there is so much bickering,” Tong said. “It is even more like entertainment and just getting the general vibe of the candidates rather than actually learning new super important information.”
The disputes can be a deterrent, or at times, a source of entertainment for viewers.
Catherine He, a junior majoring in computer science, said she disliked how Trump behaved on stage in the clips she saw on X.
“I think [abortion] is a huge thing that Trump has been kind of dismissing, but also, I don’t like his attitude, to be honest,” she said.
As a first-time voter, He said she primarily learned about the debate through posts on social media, mostly watching “replays and reactions to it.”
Like He, Lucas Damasco, a sophomore majoring in business administration and computer programming, primarily watched the debate through clips on Instagram and TikTok.
Damasco was unable to watch the entirety of the debate due to his class schedule, but also decided not to watch the parts he could because of how the debate was going.
“I was in class for one half of it, and then for the second half, I watched a little bit of it,” Damasco said. “Then what I saw, how it was going down, I just wasn’t that interested in tuning in for the rest of the hour just because it was kind of what I expected.”
Simultaneously, at Wallis Annenberg Hall, around 100 students attended the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism debate watch party, exceeding the organizers’ expectations.
“I was so glad to see the students come out and to see that they were engaged in this process, because sometimes that doesn’t happen,” said Miki Turner, professor of professional practice of journalism. “For them to come out and witness that slice of history was just very inspiring.”
Whether or not students watched the debate live, their exposure to political content on social media will likely face an uptick in the coming weeks. This could affect how knowledgeable they become about candidates or whether they will vote at all.
He said she has started making a plan with her roommate for how they will cast their ballots.
“I honestly don’t really know what [voting] literally looks like, but I was talking about it with my roommate,” He said. “She was like ‘Oh are you gonna vote,’ I was like ‘lowkey.’ I don’t know because I really don’t know how to approach the process.”