In an effort to appeal to young voters who have been growing energized amid persistent recruiters to vote in the upcoming election, Democrats are bringing influencers to cover the Democratic National Convention from within the venue. According to The Washington Post, the DNC is opening a credential request process for creators to apply for access to the event on the same level that traditional media outlets receive.
Cayana Mackey-Nance, the DNC’s director of digital strategy explained that allowing influencers into the debate gives more Americans a chance to “experience and engage with this critical part of our Democratic process.” By having a window into the event through social media influencers, those who follow them will see Democrats formally nominate President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for reelection.
“Creators have revolutionized the way Americans consume information and content, and their innovations will continue to play a critical role in how the American people view not only this election cycle, but every election cycle moving forward,” Mackey-Nance added.
The convention committee said that they will not revoke access for creators who are critical of Biden because they say they are treating influencers as they do the press.
The Washington Post reports, “Young voters ages 18 to 29 were key to Biden’s win in 2020…and they are increasingly getting their information about politics from social media — around a third of adults ages 18 to 29 say they regularly get news on TikTok, according to Pew Research Center.”
Shermann “Dilla” Thomas, a Chicago historian and creator with more than 111,000 followers on TikTok and more than 84,000 followers on Instagram, attended an initial walkthrough of the center. Thomas shared that he is interested in noting how Democrats “interact with people from BIPOC spaces” and is particularly interested “in knowing how much money the DNC is spending in Black and Brown communities, since they will be courting the Black and Brown vote very hard come November, as well as the Asian American vote.”
Thomas suggested that it is a step in the right direction to allow influencers who reach the middle-aged to younger generations to be part of this event because they will be “the ones that inherit the benefits and the problems caused by politicians,” and they should have the opportunity to be on the ground among politicians to address the problems.