A Visual Guide to the Influencers Shaping the 2024 Election

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses the growing importance of influencers in electoral politics. It highlights how influencers, including micro-influencers and high-profile figures like Elon Musk, are increasingly being courted by political campaigns and parties to reach their large online followings. The article also notes that influencers are now being credentialed alongside journalists at major political events, and that they are opening up their platforms to candidates. The article suggests that the impact of political influencers on elections remains to be seen, but that they have already changed the way politics is experienced online.

🙋 Q&A

[01] Influencers and Electoral Politics

1. What is the role of influencers in electoral politics?

• Influencers are increasingly important in electoral politics as they are:
  • Tastemakers, meme sharers, video creators, and organizers
  • Wield significant power in encouraging their followers to vote
  • Being courted by political campaigns and parties to reach their large online followings

2. How are influencers being integrated into the political process?

• Influencers, including micro-influencers and high-profile figures like Elon Musk, are receiving invitations to political fundraisers, party conventions, and rallies
• Influencers are sharing their experiences of being "onstage and behind the scenes" with their millions of followers online
• The Democratic National Convention has credentialed influencers alongside journalists for the first time
• Candidates are appearing on creator-led podcasts and embracing influencer-led initiatives (e.g. the Harris campaign's "brat summer")

3. How do the followings of influencers on the right and left compare?

• The biggest influencers on the right, including billionaires like Musk and mainstream right-wing media figures, have significantly larger followings than some of the younger creators on the left.

4. What is the potential impact of political influencers on elections?

• It is still unknown how much influencers' followings could sway elections, but they have already changed the way politics is experienced online
• Influencers are not going away, and their role in the 2024 election will be closely watched.

[02] Methodology and Scope

1. How did the authors select the influencers included in the visual and interactive list?

• The list includes a sampling of the most influential people pushing political content on the internet, including micro-influencers and high-profile figures
• Creators were selected based on criteria such as whether they post primarily about politics, have worked with political campaigns or PACs, have a large audience, or hold influence in a specific community

2. What is the scope and purpose of the interactive list?

• The list is intended to show "who's who in politics in communities across the internet"
• It allows users to see how the followings of influencers on the right and left compare, and how they are connected to the 2024 election.