By Lillian Hamlin
Correspondent
With just weeks left in the presidential campaign, both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have opted to be interviewed on less traditional media outlets, namely popular podcasts and YouTube, to gain the attention of younger voters in this election.
In the past two weeks, Harris has made an appearance on the popular “Call Her Daddy” podcast, which has over five million weekly listeners, according to CBS News. Donald Trump also spoke to famous YouTubers Logan Paul and Theo Von to talk about everything from President Joe Biden to fake news. But did these moves get them the positive attention they are looking for or turn potential voters away?
Social media is now one of the most influential ways the public gets their information on the election and each candidate, according to an article by the Greyhound. Both candidates have taken their parties on different platforms like TikTok and Instagram hoping to lure younger voters, who might need a clever view on who they are going to vote for.
On Oct. 7, Harris went on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, where she talked about economic issues, women's rights and reproductive rights. However, according to CBS News, many people are questioning why she went on this particular podcast. “Call Her Daddy” is listened to by mostly women and was started by Alex Cooper in 2018.
However, many viewers found the vice president's timing of the interview to be poor, as it aired the day after Hurricane Helene in Florida, which killed over 250 people and devastated those in the South, according to Fox News. Instead of educating the public about the hurricane, Harris went on a podcast, which was not taken lightly by the public. Trump used this to his advantage and went on to call both Harris and Cooper “dummies,” via the Irish star.
On Sept. 24, Trump also recorded a YouTube video with Logan Paul, a popular influencer and wrestler. In the video, Trump jokingly was going to make a “diss track” about Biden after going on about how bad a president he is. NBC News reported that although some viewers found this entertaining, others found it to be childish and took it as a joke.
Nevertheless, social media can be a good way of learning about the election and specific candidates. This is seen here at the College, where the nonpartisan organization TCNJVotes! offers programming and uses social media to encourage more students to register to vote, come up with a voting plan and get informed on each candidate.
Frank Davis, a public policy graduate student who is a member of the organization, said its main purpose is to “not necessarily give the answer on who to vote for, but for more engagement and to get more students on campus involved.”
Davis also explained that the club is promoted on social media and has an active website which has helped him persuade several students to vote.
Just like TCNJ Votes!, the campaigns of both Harris and Trump each have their own TikTok accounts and websites where they bash things the opposing candidates said or have done. They also share clips of their speaking engagements on certain topics which can be easily viewed by phone.
Although both candidates are trying to engage the younger generation by going on popular social media apps, the question still remains: Is this helping or hurting their political parties?
According to Pew Research Center, “48% of people ages 18-25 get their political news from social media.” Candidates like Barack Obama first started using social media in 2008 to reach younger voters, and with each election, the power of the medium has only increased, according to the National Archives.
Molly Huvane, an undeclared freshman, explained her thoughts about how each candidate is approaching her generation.
“I think that it is a good effort by both candidates to engage more with my generation, but it can come off as childish,” Huvane said of their TikTok accounts.
While both candidates are trying to address the younger demographic, some are wondering if they are approaching it the right way.
Students like Huvane are mostly being entertained by these interviews and posts, and since they are making fun of each other on social media, many are not taking it seriously and making memes and jokes about it.
Although social media still has mixed reviews, Yolanda Whidbee, a professor in the creative writing department, explained how she tunes into the election coverage through watching the news and reading the newspaper.
“I believe that it depends on the person and because of my time and schedule and the way my life is set up,” Whidbee said. I would rather sit down and watch on television so I can make informative decisions and sit and take a couple hours and watch rather than scrolling on my phone.”
Whidbee said that it is not just the younger generation getting their information from social media, but all generations. She emphasized that her parents often see details and notifications on their phone without a reliable source or evidence.
Social media has influenced voters of all ages in the 2024 election. While students are viewing the candidates who come on TikTok as free entertainment, others find it easy to get information on their phone because of how quickly they can get their information.
“The news is just saturated and people are being overwhelmed as we get closer to Nov. 5, and social media is just going to be sending out more and more bites,” Whidbee said. “It is going to be up to people to make a decision on how they want to receive the information.”
