Cast your Vote

Social media has had a long history in influencing political interest, but younger voters have adopted a new trend of using short-form video platforms notably TikTok. Gen Z (those born 1997-2012) has embraced these platforms to express political perspectives, motivate their peers to vote, and potentially sway elections. This leads to the important question of how influential TikTok and platforms like it become in modern democracy. TikTok allows users to shoot entertaining videos between 15 to 60 seconds long that can rapidly gain attention.

Politically, video content can either serve the purpose of an explainer video about policies or be produced by campaigns as advertisements, often organized by youth groups, or be produced by everyday supporters of a candidate or cause attempting to mobilize their peers to vote. Among younger generations, the immediacy and creativity of short video content tend to be engaging platforms for education and mobilization of voters. During the 2024 U.S. election cycle further indicating this platform is growing in importance through political engagement.

Nevertheless, the swift distribution of information also poses some risks. Misinformation and deepfake videos may mislead viewers and could potentially impact election results. Additionally, Gen Z users must also navigate a space where entertainment is woven into an environment where politics intersect and where the nature of getting something to go viral is often more important than the accuracy of the original content. Thus, digital literacy and critical thinking are becoming even more crucial skills to engage participants.

Proponents of social media engagement see platforms like TikTok as democratizing political conversation by allowing voices that may not be heard by traditional sources to have a national audience. Opponents warn that these same platforms reduce complex issues to bite-sized content, and lead to performative activism instead of meaningful involvement.

Ultimately, TikTok as a vehicle for political conversation illustrates a generational change in how people experience the public sphere (or participate in democracy). Short-form videos offer accessibility, but also place responsibility on creators and consumers to discern information, especially as a growing proportion of Gen Z’s voters continue to move toward these platforms.