Attending college in a swing state that has 19 electoral college votes kept the 2024 presidential election at the forefront of my mind for months. Both Vice President Kamala Harris and President-elect Donald Trump dedicated many hours to attending events in Pennsylvania. Besides the in-person work that was done to inform voters of their choices, considerable effort was made to garner support through social media. Â
The recent approach of politicians and campaign organizers to social media has been multilayered. In the months preceding election day, information was not only shared about the candidate’s vision for the country but also about voter registration. Both the Trump and Harris TikTok accounts seemingly sought to primarily engage Gen Z.  Harris’s team leaned into incorporating pop culture into her campaign strategy. Many of the TikTok posts on Kamala HQ included references to current trends, popular music, and viral memes. Trump’s Team Trump campaign account on TikTok employed a similar approach of integrating political messages into TikTok trends.  Â
For more than a decade, social media has been used as a tool for gathering political support. However, from a viewer’s perspective, campaigners seemed to embrace Gen Z humor more conspicuously than ever before. It was initially surprising for me to see political figures with such gravitas endorse the informal style of TikTok content. This approach seemed to resonate as the candidates amassed millions of TikTok followers.  Â
People enjoyed the social media approach of the campaigns because it provided them with more opportunities to listen to candidates in a casual manner that separated them from the usual formality of politics. Politicians are often criticized for being out of touch. In a casual and sometimes comical way, the social media era of campaigning has provided voters with increased proximity to officials and their beliefs. TikTok has become a platform that is filled with political commentary and debates. Because of this, rampant misinformation and political conspiracy theories circulate on social media platforms. The leaders of the parties posting themselves to combat misinformation seems like a logical next step.