TIKTOK HAS FAST BECOME ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL TOOLS IN A POLITICIAN’S ARSENAL
DIGITAL DOMINANCE Politicians like Donald Trump have employed social media as a tool to mobilise voters and shape public discourse
ost of us have likely heard the name Cambridge Analytica tossed around in conversations about politics and data privacy. In the mid-2010s, the British consulting firm harvested data from millions of Facebook users, using it to create psychographic profiles and tailored political advertisements (a tactic also known as microtargeting). The
having rebranded to X (though few have colloquially adopted the new title). Social media plays a different yet still significant role today; with 2024 being the biggest global election year in recent history, we explore why social media matters more than ever. GOING VIRAL TikTok has fast become one of the most powerful tools in a politician’s arsenal, especially for those trying to reach young voters. Its algorithm tailors content to the individual user on their For You page and makes it incredibly easy for a video to go viral, reaching millions in mere days (sometimes faster). For political candidates, the more eyes on campaign material, the better. TikTok has been somewhat divisive during the run-up to the 2024 US presidential election. Before withdrawing from the race, incumbent candidate Joe Biden turned his efforts towards the platform back in February, hoping it would aid in his re-election, but his approach to social media felt highly manufactured – especially after he signed the bill to ban TikTok earlier this year (an act originally proposed by former president Trump, to clarify). Biden is out of touch with young, online voters – even those of his own party; his VP and the current Democratic candidate Kamala Harris is much more attuned to this demographic. Trump also caved, joining TikTok in June and amassing three million followers in his first two days on the app – casting quite a shadow over Biden’s lowly 350,000. Despite having the go- around with X (being removed and then reinstated after Elon
firm was found to have played a role in the 2016 US presidential election, particularly aiding candidates Ted Cruz and Donald Trump – the latter of whom went on to win the presidency. While, across the pond, Cambridge Analytica was accused of interfering with the Brexit referendum. It’s been eight years since the 2016 election shook up American politics and Britain voted ‘yes’ to leave the EU. In that time, we’ve introduced new regulations (like the GDPR), experienced a global pandemic and witnessed an insurrection on the US Capitol. Platforms like TikTok have taken off while Twitter has taken a hit,
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