AOC started a live video

 

@AOC started a live video...

Looking for a way to reach younger voters? Just ask AOC.

With virtually everyone below the age of 30 spending countless hours attached to their phones, smart and savvy politicians are using this to their advantage in order to reach their constituents and beyond. They're drawing attention to current political issues, and in particular, motivating young people to vote. This utilization of the groundswell is currently the most effective way for politicians to target their young political audience, as it allows them to directly engage with each other on these important and consequential topics that directly impact the future of our generation.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, US House Representative from New York’s 14 District or AOC, as she is more popularly known, is by far, the most high profile politician utilizing social media to engage in informative discourse with Americans, particularly through the use of instagram live. By using instagram as a form of easy communication, she is able to read and respond to thousands of people at once, easily drawing people in and providing easy access to her perspective and political knowledge.

Chapter 2 of Groundswell discusses how relationships are the driving force behind  successful technology. It’s not actually about the technology, as technology has the ability to change rapidly, but rather the importance of the relationships formed. On a platform such as Instagram live, users are able to have an open discussion with their followers and or customers that elicits an easy way to both spread information and gather feedback at the same time. 

 

Political leadership, discourse, and support is embedded in relationships and with the use of technologies such as Instagram live, these relationships are changing and become more accessible. Instagram live utilizes the groundswell by providing a relaxed and low-key setting that is a game changer for politicians to connect and facilitate support, especially within the younger generation. 

It seems it would be advantageous for all politicians to be following AOC’s idea and capitalizing on this shifting direct relationship with supporters and potential voters, but it’s reported that Democrats are 10 percent more likely to participate in any element of the groundswell, while republican participation is about 20 percent below average (Bernoff, Li).  

Although Groundswell was written over 10 years ago, it seems safe to say that this statistic remains true. 

Chapter 5 and 6 of The Groundswell  examine the importance of actively listening to customers. This is extremely valuable to sellers or promoters as the groundswell allows people to constantly share their opinions and thoughts every second. The groundswell is where customers actually decide what your product is. An app like instagram live speeds up this already quick process by allowing for active dialogue between seller and buyer, or in AOC’s case, between politician and citizens. By receiving active feedback and questions, companies or people in power are able to conduct market research that can facilitate better sales or engagement. Listening can drastically change outcomes, and the results should be implemented into corporate decision making (Bernoff, Li, 80). 

Today, people are actively trying to get young people to vote in larger numbers. Politicians and social justice advocates are desperately looking for ways to get youth engaged and registered to vote. By using a platform like Instagram, they are capitalizing on social technographics (because they know us young people are already on our phones all the time). Using IG live is a very smart way to target young people, as it’s the most accessible way to reach them. Analyzing how to grab the attention of a specific group is critical for corporations and businesses, but is also clearly important during this election season.

Do you agree that these are the best strategies to reach and engage voters?