and Kamala Harris ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket, there was, to use internet vernacular, a vibe shift. For progressives, what once felt like a doomed election had evolved into a collective sense of giddiness. The place where this glee has reached a fever pitch, particularly among younger voters, is on social media.and rising pop star Chappell Roan, amassing millions of views.
All of this is particularly notable because the Biden campaign’s online efforts had nearly the opposite result: despite paying influencers to create pro-Biden content, the 81-year-old President failed to achieve internet virality. Instead, his gaffes often became meme fodder. Laura Olin, a digital strategist and former social-media director for Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, said it can be easy for campaigns to overlook the importance of social-media platforms such as TikTok. “I think the overall assumption is like, ‘Oh, that’s just for kids. It’s not for people who engage in serious politics.’” she said. “But young people are a huge constituency in elections and that’s a reason to get on it.
“The thing about these types of memes is that they don’t turn people on,” said Jamie Cohen, an assistant professor at CUNY Queens College who studies memes. “They could lose voters with these memes rather than gain them. The more they dig into the very online, the less they connect with the suburban moms.”
One of the videos that went viral at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago was of L.A.-based creator Heather Gardner in a suit made of fabric that was the same lime green as the cover of Charli XCX’s album, with a T-shirt featuring conspicuously placed coconuts.