While millennials were keen to use social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter as their go-to source for political news, Generation Z seems determined to get their political fix on a newer platform, with more focus placed on images and less on words.
According to a new poll by Business Insider, the social media giant Instagram has now morphed into Generation Z’s preferred platform to consume political news. Approximately 59% of individuals aged 13 to 21 years have cited social media as their go-to platform of political news, with 65% of those individuals saying Instagram was the preferred source of all the available platforms that they check on a daily basis.
In the beginning, Instagram was a simple platform that allowed users to post photos to a public forum where other individuals could react and post comments, similar to photo posts on Facebook. Since then, it has morphed into a multi-use platform that allows users to keep a 24 hour story of updates from their current day, as well as a feature that allows individuals to livestream certain events, such as a campaign stop, for all their followers to view.
While this preference for Instagram is relatively new, it is not surprising that America’s younger generations have turned traditional political news reporting on its head, in favor of a newer platform for news that can be accessed quickly, while also allowing one to check what their friends and family are doing at the same time.
In the past, Americans would often have to wait for the nightly news to see the political developments of the day, or the early morning newspaper to see debate news from the night before. Now, politicians and candidates often employee a social media manager with several co-workers tasked directly with constantly updating their page to accurately reflect their news and priorities, while also providing a reaction to their opponents’ actions, or social media fails.
The sheer power of Instagram as a political tool can also be observed through the influence held by several of the leading 2020 presidential contenders. President Trump leads the way with approximately 13.5 million Instagram followers, with Bernie Sanders leading the Democrats with 3.5 million followers, followed by Kamala Harris at 1.8 million, and Elizabeth Warren with 1.6 million.
John Patrick (@john_pat_rick) is a graduate of Canisius College and Georgia Southern University. He interned for Red Alert Politics during the summer of 2012 and has continued to contribute regularly.
