I’m a gen Z voter. Content creators have far less power than politicians think | Alex Bronzini-Vender
Summary
The article argues that political parties overestimate the influence of online creators on young voters. It cites surveys suggesting young people are more likely to seek political information from family, friends, and organizations, while campaigns and allied groups increasingly pay creators to promote political messages.Key Facts
- In Michigan’s 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump won by about 1.4 percentage points, and the article says young voters split evenly between Trump and Kamala Harris.
- The article estimates that young voters’ shift toward Trump could have amounted to roughly 3.6 percentage points in Michigan, assuming they made up 15% of the electorate.
- A Media Insight Project survey found that 63% of people aged 18 to 34 get news from influencers at least sometimes, but 9% of those who receive such news have great confidence in it.
- A YouGov survey of young voters in eight battleground states found that half sought political advice from family members, 30% from friends, and 6% from influencers.
- A Tufts civic-engagement research center survey found that 45% of young respondents got political information from political, advocacy, or community organizations; 9% cited influencer and celebrity social media posts.
- The article reports that the Democratic National Committee has worked with more than 500 online personalities and that the National Republican Congressional Committee paid more than $120,000 to a network of conservative influencers.
- The article gives examples of campaign-related payments to creators, including at least 17 influencers paid $5,000 or more by Tom Steyer in California’s governor’s race and a $25,000 payment from Katie Porter’s campaign to a lifestyle creator.
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