Position Paper #3 | Social Media

Politicians on Social Media

In the past decade, social media has become an important tool for businesses, organizations, and politicians. In today’s day in age, politicians have to have a strong social media presence to even be considered. Television shows, radio, and newspapers which were once huge instruments in politics have now transitioned to social media. Everyone gets their news from Twitter nowadays. In this paper, I want to examine a couple of different politicians and their use of each social media platform. With the internet, there are so many ways you can slip up and make a mistake when in front of the eyes of millions. 

When I think of politicians on social media, my first thought is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also known as AOC. She is the U.S. representative for New York’s 14th congressional district. Before I really understood politics, she was one of the first politicians I knew of because of her social media platform. I think her Twitter specifically was the key to her success at such an early age. A study done in 2019 asked the question “How do freshman members of the House of Representatives seek power and influence in their first term?” Despite there being so many variables the one factor that other less successful younger politicians lacked was social media presence.

AOC’s Twitter is her most impressive platform. She is very active and tweets almost every day. Which is something that I think plays into relevancy. Because she is active and constantly addressing new issues she can remain relevant. That also means she isn’t missing everything. She is staying up to date on current issues. In the above-mentioned study, they found that compared to strictly policy-oriented Twitter accounts AOC had a large number of extraneous tweets, making use of personal anecdotes, feminist insights, inspirational messages, and calls for progressive leadership. Her Twitter account is not only her professional account to express her policies and plans, but also a way to connect with people all across America.

Daily reminder that Ticketmaster is a monopoly, it’s merger with LiveNation should never have been approved, and they need to be reigned in.

Break them up.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 15, 2022

Not only does AOC have great Twitter, but she also has a great presence on Instagram. It isn’t really her posts that stand out because most of them are screenshots of her tweets, but her posts on her story are very insightful. They usually include behind-the-scenes of what she does, similar to an influencer, and she also explains policies and how things work that maybe some people don’t understand. On November 20th, she made stories explaining the importance of recycling and composting. Her professional account is found at @repaoc. This account is run by the federal staff and provides updates on on-the-job congressional issues.

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A post shared by Rep. Ocasio-Cortez (@repaoc)

She also has Facebook and Youtube. Her Facebook is a little different from the previous accounts mainly because her target audience changes. Her Youtube channel is a place where she can put longer videos of explanations of different issues and her in-office advocating for ideas that she got voted in for. 

The next politician I wanted to look at is newly elected Democrat Maxwell Alejandro Frost. He is the first person from Generation Z to be elected to the U.S. Congress. Frost won Florida’s 10th congressional district. Because he is one of the youngest people in Congress, his use of social media is drastically different than that of his workplace peers. When he won a month ago, his fans began to retweet his old tweets, one of them including a picture of him and Harry Styles from 2014. One person joked “first Directioner elected to Congress” and another joked “America finally has 1D stan representation in Congress.” 

I think Frost’s position is so unique in the fact that he truly can be a voice for the younger generation. Which is something we rarely see in politics. He is a representation of so many people who have grown up on the internet and his social media presence proves it. I first want to examine his Twitter because this is the place he gained notoriety. On his Twitter, similar to AOC he posts political issues and solutions, as well as work he is doing in office, but he is also addressing pop culture issues. He recently retweeted a tweet about Kanye. He has faced backlash because of his young age, but he has proven to be more than serious about his position.  

im pretty bummed over missing this festival. Paramore, Foals, BRIAN WILSON, The 1975, Lil Nas X, Run the Jewels, AND MRC?!?? 😭 https://t.co/venpOj5hYZ

— Maxwell Alejandro Frost (@MaxwellFrostFL) November 25, 2022

He also has a really strong Instagram presence. The appearance of the .5 selfies is a Gen-Z staple. He posts about his life just like any other 25 year old and his life just includes his work in Congress. He also has a story highlighting the concerts he has been to, which I think is a great way to relate to followers. His demographic is young adults who have grown up with unrestricted internet access. It’s just refreshing to see someone representing a community that has never been represented before in Congress. 

He also has a Facebook. It is almost copied and pasted from his Twitter but excludes the personal commentary about pop culture issues. He has a small Youtube channel where he has speeches posted and campaign advertisements. He has a TikTok, but he doesn’t post on it often. I don’t think he needs to grow his presence on TikTok. He found his niche on Twitter and I think if he sticks to that then he will be able to grow his platform. No one is going to TikTok for politics or news, but they are going to Twitter. I think that should be his focus from here on out if his goal is to move up on the chain. 

As younger generations are getting older and becoming a more important demographic for politicians, government officials will need to start utilizing it as a tool for connecting and keeping in touch with them. Personally, I’m not worried about what someone can do for me that affects the next 5 years. I’m looking to the people who are trying to create a better future for me and my friends for the next 50 years. Older politicians won’t fully be able to relate with young people just because of the fact they don’t have the same worries as us.