Politicians are increasingly using Gen-Z TikTok humor, music and trends in order to expand their appeal in the midst of the midterm elections. These videos come across as accessible, easily digestible yet less traditional compared to historical campaigns.
The rise of the TikTok-style campaign gained traction during former Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign. One of her slogans, “Kamala IS Brat,” referring to Charli XCX’s viral party girl album that boomed in popularity in the summer of 2024, was a method to attract younger audiences. Each video averaged 6 million views on her @kamalaHQ TikTok account, according to Newsweek, but did these metrics translate into actual votes?
In the case of Harris, a recent study conducted by political science researchers Syndey Carr, Chaya Crowder and Christine Slaughter found that traditional, policy-focused campaign ads improved voter favorability toward Harris, while trendy, short-form clips had a more limited impact.
“I think there’s a difference between making politics more accessible to younger audiences and trying too hard to appeal to them through internet trends. At a certain point it can come across as inauthentic and make it harder to take a candidate seriously,” said Arman Ahmad, a USC junior studying business analytics.
Dmitri Williams, a professor of communications, also notes how technology has influenced the communications methods of political campaigns in recent years. With the rise of using more standardized political addresses across multiple campaign stops, Williams expresses the difficulty candidates have connecting with a wide range of audiences.
“Politicians used to be able to be really micro-targeted, but the rise of technology and of broadcast and mass media meant that they could no longer say different things to different people because they would be quoted and it would be spread all over,” Williams said. “So that has had a really unifying and averaging impact on what politicians say, and since they can’t speak to the extremes, they have to have a pretty bland message.”
This has led to an increase in the popularity of TikTok-style content which allows candidates to target their content and reach particular types of people.
“It’s the classic ‘meet them where they are’ idea because consumption of political messaging is no longer happening through traditional channels,” Williams said. “It’s going through new streaming technologies, and especially social media – whether that’s a channel like TikTok or something else. So you’ve got to put those matches where people are actually looking. You have to go where the eyeballs are.”
Claire Rubin, a second-year PhD student studying geology said, “I think it’s a good idea [using TikTok]. I feel like the alt right have capitalized on using social media and memes and everything to approach the younger generationI think that Democrats using [memes], upping their game and reaching that wider audience like Gen Z is a good thing.”
This year, amidst the midterms, many candidates are using TikTok to promote themselves and bash other candidates.
Bruce Blakeman, a Republican running for governor of New York against Democratic incumbent Kathy Hochul posted an AI-generated video where Hochul is seen laying on the floor and transitions into a witch. The video was captioned, “Kathy Hochul can hide behind a costume all she wants, but she can’t hide from her record. New Yorkers deserve real leadership, not another political performance. Vote today!” The AP declared Hochul as the next governor of New York at 6 p.m. yesterday.
Xavier Becerra, Democratic candidate for governor of California, posted an edit on his TikTok page of multiple videos of him from when he was younger. His video mimics edits that Gen Z uses for characters they admire or crush on in the media; the purpose seems to attract viewers for his looks rather than his policies. The AP declared Becerra as the next governor of California at 8 p.m. yesterday.
These videos included no tangible information on their policies.
“People are hungry to get real content, real passion and in some senses, real vulnerability from someone they can relate to, as opposed to someone who was an elite talking down to them,” Williams said.
Williams notes that authenticity is the main goal of this campaign style during a period of time when people lack trust in institutions.
“The buzzword here is definitely authenticity,” Williams said. “Where people are trying to explain that they’re a real person, they care, and that they empathize with you. That’s really difficult to do at a time when trust in institutions is at an all-time low for pretty systemic reasons.”
However, the lack of professionalism in these campaigns can be drastic for voters.
“I don’t take them seriously; I think it cheapens American politics. Elections decide real things like healthcare, economy, who sits on the court. And turning a campaign into an internet spectacle that will be gone in a few weeks takes away from that,” said Aidan Lam, a junior studying politics, philosophy and law.
While these Tiktok-style campaign videos may reach younger voters, it doesn’t always sit well with viewers.
“Young people especially nowadays can handle real policy conversations, and assuming otherwise is a little bit condescending as well,” said Lam.
Edited by Katherine Contreras Hernandez and Leo Li