Scrolling through social media, students have begun to notice the new path of campaigning presidential nominees Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have begun to utilize. To appeal to the younger generations, they have started participating in trends on TikTok and using influential celebrities who have endorsed them, like Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift and Bryce Hall, to rally supporters. 

“The videos on TikTok do get our generation more involved in politics because there are many disagreements that occur. When someone watches a video about something they don’t agree with, they usually voice their opinion in the comments or do further research,” stated Hannah Michalec (she/her), 12.

They have been using these new tactics to continually fact-check one another, using previous debates, posts or out-of-context videos to show the other’s dishonesty. For example, Trump’s statement of “we need walls” in reference to the blocking of passage for illegal immigrants into the U.S. in the latest presidential debate was twisted to “we need Walz” by “Kamala HQ”, part of Harris’s campaign on TikTok, making it seem as if Trump was in support of Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee. 

“Team Trump” is a part of Trump’s campaign on TikTok, and they also utilize the same tactics. This includes showing how President Joe Biden and Harris’s legislation have voted to ban TikTok, even though she uses it as a main source of campaigning. He used this same rhetoric in response to the sudden increase in violence in the Middle East when Trump had previously put an end to some disputes in the area.

Besides arguing with one another, they use trending sounds, memes, dances and even make edits of themselves on TikTok to help grow their audiences. In response, they have both acquired massive followings on their platforms, and other TikTok creators have started doing the same. But, there have also been negative responses when it comes to these new tactics.

“Their way of interacting is promoting their campaigns through trends or memes. In my opinion, they want to be seen as “relatable”, but they aren’t providing information about their policies or character. I honestly dislike this because voters aren’t always the most informed,” expressed Michalec.

While social media is a fairly new development in terms of technology, it has become a big part of society. Using it as a tool in campaigning is a smart strategy to apply to younger generations, and it has been working in both of their favor. Yet, there are some downfalls in utilizing it, as social media has become a huge part of people’s lives, so not everyone is exposed to the same videos and media.

“I think what they are doing is working, however, I think that the videos on TikTok don’t necessarily reach the intended target, which would be teenagers or college kids,” said Taylor Cavanh (she/her), 11. “I think this because there is so much on TikTok that political videos have a lot of competition to reach For You Pages.”

Yet, with the videos students do see, the campaigns have had benefits from this new tactic. Using what is popular and trending among younger generations is a great way to get them more involved in the political world. This has been seen more prominently as their social medias take storm.

“If someone thinks a video from them (the nominees) is agreeable or funny, they might donate money to fund their campaign. On the other hand, if their video is distasteful to a certain audience, they might lose some funding for their campaign,” expressed Michalec.

While using one of the most popular social media platforms is a good way to reach certain audiences, it also helps promote and spread information quickly. Especially on TikTok, people tend to see news and spread it like rapid fire, whether it is false or truthful.

“I can see both a positive and negative effect,” stated Cavanh. “TikTok circulates fast and can spread information more quickly.”

As time progresses, the campaigns have slowly become more overlooked. Fewer of these videos are catching people’s attention, so it is hardly discussed. At first, the media received good feedback and popularity, but that has slowly been declining. Students are starting to find their videos and posts more annoying and bothersome than before, as they use the same trends with little to no context on their actual policies and goals in their videos.

“I think they should use less memes. I understand that they’re trying to get attention from teenagers, but I don’t think it’s the most transparent they can be. I think each candidate would benefit from posting small clips from their rallies, talking to voters, and explaining policies. These are more informative and effective in my opinion,” stated Michalec.

While using social media to their advantage is a smart tactic, some changes need to be made in order to keep appealing to their audiences.