In September of last year, Ashley Renne eagerly informed her over 100,000 Instagram followers about her meeting with President Joe Biden and the significance of the Inflation Reduction Act in a video that was over a minute long.
However, her enthusiasm for Biden’s vision has begun to fade over the past year, and she is not alone among the influential young people who were vital to the Obama administration’s efforts to reach out to them.
Renne voiced her displeasure with “the government is doing and what the people want” in an interview with AWN, and her most recent article urged readers to learn about third-party candidates in the run-up to the primaries. Marianne Williamson is a Democratic presidential candidate against Joe Biden. Renne recently posted, “Rooting for you” to her on X.
Renne, like other influential social media users, has collaborated with the White House to increase the number of people who can see ads touting the policies enacted by the current administration. This has helped Vice President Biden contact more people on social media who he might not have reached otherwise. However, several influential people who previously helped Biden’s accomplishments gain traction are now conflicted about continuing to collaborate with him, with less than a year until voters cast their ballots.
“Influencers played a huge role in getting him elected the first time because of our ability to reach younger audiences,” Renne, a climate activist, told AWN in an interview. “On the other hand, given the current situation of the country and the level of disappointment among influential people towards his administration, it will be difficult for the president to rely on them this time.”
Following recent surveys showing that support for the president appears to be declining among young voters, Biden’s capacity to collaborate with social media influencers could be a crucial factor in his potential to get greater support from this demographic. His 2020 reelection was heavily influenced by youthful people. Even though surveys predict that Millennials and Generation Z will constitute over half of the American electorate in 2024, those voters are anticipated to continue to have a significant impact on that election.
Social media influencers have had unprecedented access to the executive branch under Biden’s administration since he took the oath of office. Officials from the White House have spoken with content creators and social media influencers about the significance of the COVID-19 vaccination during the peak of the epidemic and educated them on matters pertaining to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. To further demonstrate Biden’s commitment to fulfilling campaign commitments, the White House has extended invitations to social media influencers to attend events.
Influencers who collaborate with the White House are not unanimously displeased. According to Harry Sisson, who has over 746,200 TikTok followers, the hostage release arrangement was a “pretty big diplomatic breakthrough” and would help Biden win over young people.
“I believe that will lead to younger generations realising that there was real progress and that the Biden administration had a hand in these talks,” commented Sisson, who has been to several White House events.
According to Biden campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz, the president’s team will “work to meet voters where they are” with their messages.
“The diverse coalition that sent President Biden and Vice President Harris to the White House in 2020 are proud to have received historically early and united support,” Munoz said of the campaign. The 2020 coalition is working hard to meet voters where they are and earn every vote, with the election just a year away. We are emphasising the immense stakes of this election and will not rest until we win next November.
The White House events that Kahlil Greene attended, who goes under the name “Gen-Z Historian” online, allowed him to better inform his fans about the administration’s stances on many topics, according to Greene.
He did, however, caution that the president and his staff must grant social media influencers the autonomy to create films that resonate with their audiences on an authentic level if Biden is to repeat his success in 2020 in enlisting their support to reinforce his campaign message.
He went on to argue that influencers will do “more harm than good” if Biden is more “heavy-handed” in providing them with talking points.
