How social media strategies are shaping Ohio's vote in 2024 elections

Farah Siddiqi

By Hevin Wilkey / Broadcast version by Farah Siddiqi reporting for the Kent State NewsLab-Ohio News Connection Collaboration.

Kamala Harris has extensively used social media during her presidential campaign to target a key demographic in this election, Generation Z.

Patrick Houlihan, president of the College Democrats of Ohio and a senior political science major at Miami of Ohio University, said Harris' social media posts have aided in getting people of all demographics, but Gen Z in particular, to understand her policies and who she is.

"She feels like a person," Houlihan said. "She doesn't feel like a politician. That's, well, she does feel like a politician, but she feels like not a robot."

To Houlihan, Harris represents hope and a new age for a younger U.S. government.

Since Harris became the Democratic nominee, there has been an uptick in young voters who are more excited to vote.

UCLA produced a study on Gen Z's motivation and favor to vote in the presidential election. They found that nearly half of respondents were not initially motivated to vote before Harris's nomination, but a third of that group became motivated to vote for Harris.

Once Harris announced her candidacy, she immediately started her campaign, which included strategizing social media.

TikTok account "Kamalahq" has racked in nearly 5 million followers since its first post in February, then named "Bidenhq." The account switched names the day Harris announced that she would be taking Joe Biden's spot seeking the nomination of the Democratic party.

She then quickly adopted videos and edits featuring songs like "Feminimonemon" by Chappell Roan and visuals similar to "Brat" by Charli XCX.

Through various videos such as edits, memes (both uplifting herself and making fun of Donald Trump), clips of speeches from her own page and regular TikTok users, she aimed to connect with a new demographic.

J. Cherie Strachan, a professor and director of the Ray J. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron, teaches various political science classes. She works with a mix of undergraduate and graduate students and sees their interests and thoughts firsthand.

"I think [college voices] make or break, right?" Strachan said. "This is a margin of error race, for the presidency at least. Harris needs to not only match the youth support that Biden got four years ago, but if possible, increase it."

Harris is reaching Gen Z Americans through social media, where many of them get their news, according to the Pew Research Center.

A September Harvard Youth Poll reported that out of the 53% of young adults who have seen memes and social media associated with Kamala Harris, 34% say it positively influenced their opinions of her. This poll shows +24 to +33 point leads to Donald Trump in empathy, honesty, reliability and other issues like abortion and climate change.

"No matter if Harris wins or loses, there are going to be thousands of strategists all across the country looking at her campaign trying to figure out what went right, what went wrong," Houlihan said. "One of those things that is probably going to go right and it's going to get duplicated is the social media strategy."

More specifically, the quick, rapid response technique is what is working in his opinion. Harris has found a way to quickly put out indirect statements at any given time in reference to what Trump is saying about her, who is endorsing her, what events and interviews she's doing, et cetera.

To Houlihan, every effort counts, but others don't think social media will be enough for Harris to win.

Malcolm Neitenbach, president of Kent State University's College Republicans and senior psychology major, understands just how much of an impact social media has in elections now more than ever. He said Trump began the trend of candidates using social media in campaigns with Twitter in 2016 and an overall increase in its use with both Biden and Trump in 2020.

"With social media, just the power of reaching these mass groups of people online is changing how politics works nowadays," Neitenbach said. "It's just going to get more prevalent. It's going to be more normalized."

Professor Strachan thinks using social media is strategic in the same way as presidential candidates going to swing states and trying to get any and every possible voter on their side.

"Realizing that the campaign had some weak spots with [swing] voters and, you know, going meeting them where they are." Strachan said. "The same with the memes and the things on social media, if that's where young people are, and we know that that's where you get your news ... Then that's where you go."


This collaboration is produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.