Harris has also gone viral in other ways, including being called a brat. Read more about it here.
According to Speaker and TikTok expert Carina Elise Godou, the videos about Harris stand out from content that has been made about Joe Biden and Donald Trump on the same platforms.
- I find that the videos I have seen of Trump and Biden have been made by people who try to make fun of them and screw them up a bit. Videos of them joking around with the words and contradicting themselves.
- What abounds most of Harris are videos that promote her issues and put them in a positive light, says Godou.
She points to several videos that show that Harris is present at events for, among other things, minorities, women's rights, abortion rights, women's health and the climate.
- These are hot topics and issues that are important to and engage many young people and especially young women.
In addition, Godou believes that the young like someone with a bit of a bone in their nose.
- She is also very direct in the way she confronts other politicians. Many have probably missed women who dare to take their place in American politics, especially against the old men.
- Memes can influence
Ragnhild Mølster believes that it has a lot to say for the young voters that videos of Kamala Harris are going viral. She is a media researcher at the University of Bergen.
- As far as I have seen, Biden was not able to engage so many young people, but when it takes off with Harris on social media, it creates enthusiasm among the young electorate.
- Although it takes a lot to move votes, videos like these can help those who already agree to agree more. And also perhaps tilt those who are unsure over to one side or the other.
Emilie Owens has researched TikTok and young people's behavior on the app. She says that you have to remember that TikTok is algorithm-driven.
- There is always a danger of focusing on which side of TikTok we see, while we forget that other people elsewhere have a completely different experience.
She goes on to say that unlike other social media, TikTok is not as much a popularity contest where things with the most likes and posts have the greatest effect.
- Having said that, I think Kamala Harris probably appeals more to younger people. Statistics show that TikTok is still one of the most popular apps among the younger generation and this is where these generations get their news.
- In that sense, the viral videos about Kamala Harris may simply indicate that young people are excited about the possibility of her as president, where they were not excited about Joe Biden.
Owens says that she believes it would be wrong to say that TikTok itself influences the election directly, but that the app functions as a catalyst to spread information about the election.
- I think memes can certainly help people decide who to vote for, and I imagine they often do.
She says that memes are one of the more robust communication tools we currently have.
- They can condense a huge volume of meaning into a short video clip or even a picture.
- We learn a lot about the social world from internet memes, and as long as national elections and especially the US election are placed at the center of our social world, memes will remain a key tool for interpreting and making decisions about that election for communities everywhere world.
Carina Elise Godou says that it is not surprising that these videos of Harris are taking off and that more and more videos are being published.
- People have wanted to influence each other since the dawn of time and on social media, such as TikTok, this becomes incredibly easy. People want to be first and jump on the trends.
She also believes that there are many people who find political affiliation on social media.
- You become very clear in your voice and it is easy to find like-minded people. The algorithms direct you to people who agree with you. It is amazing what role the content published on social media plays.
Ragnhild Mølster says that even if these videos go viral and are popular now, things can quickly turn around.
- You never know how long the trends will last. There are still a few months to go until the election, but for now it is to the Democrats' advantage that there is so much positivity around Kamala Harris.
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