by By Bella Oberlatz
It is the time of fast-paced political media driven by quick headlines and sound bites. This election has been drastically different than ever before. A space has been created for influencers who are shifting from lifestyle to political content. Is this raising awareness and increasing engagement among younger audiences or is it fueling potential misinformation, polarization, and biases. This calls into question whether their political influence benefits or harms public discourse.
Rob Flaherty, who ran digital strategy in the Biden White House and now for the presidential campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris said ,”we just have to be working with them. And if we’re not, we’re missing a huge way that voters are getting information about the world.”
Rob Flaherty’s comment doesn’t cover the extent of tensions in today’s political environment. While I agree influencers represent a powerful way to reach voters, especially younger ones, this kind of strategy is unprecedented and largely unregulated. There is an ethical responsibility that needs to be upheld.
Throughout history political campaigns were run by official channels. Channels with clear guidelines and standards. Without proper regulation, the risk of misinformation and false narratives is highly probable, especially with influencers who do not fully understand the nuances of the certain topics they endorse. By switching to information shared by influencers they should also send their followers to trust-based networks and encourage them to do further research on their own.
In today’s media, where news is often consumed through fast headlines and brief snippets of information, people are losing the habit of conducting in-depth research to thoroughly understand current events. This shift can encourage passive consumption rather than actively trying to learn about the world around us, leaving people with only a surface-level understanding of complex issues.
I think Influencers in the political space play a role in reinforcing the quick, headline-driven way of consuming information, which we are seeing impact critical thinking. With that being said, I also believe they are able to reach an audience of people who would typically not be tuned into politics, hopefully providing them with new information that they wouldn’t see otherwise. Given their reach and trust-based relationship with followers, influencers have the potential to make political issues much more accessible and engaging. However, only if influencers uphold the ethical values, such as accuracy, transparency, and accountability.
