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Now, the podcasting industry has become a $25+ billion industry. Influencer marketing has become a $250 billion industry as of last month. according to Forbes and both are likely to grow in the coming years.
Like Democrats, Republicans now see the value in collaborating with these creators and plan to gather them under their red tent for many elections to come.
“We need to create a group of people who can continue to promote conservative ideals online,” CJ Pearson, co-chair of the Republican National Convention’s youth advisory council, tells me. “That can continue to reach young people where they are, where traditional media cannot. And I think it will be something that we will lean on, not just in this cycle, but in 2026 and 2028 and in many more election cycles to come.”
In the coming days and weeks, there will be many opinions about what went wrong in Harris’ campaign. But is there anything I’m sure of? Elections and the future of the political influencer have changed forever as we know them. They will now also be organized and operational under a new Trump administration.
The chat room
At the time of writing this, I am sleeping three non-consecutive hours. I’m sure you’re not at your thickest either. So this week, I want to hear all your thoughts and frustrations about the election. Drop me off and we’ll regroup next week.
Send your thoughts to mail@wired.com. K, I love you, bye! ❤️
Wired readings
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What else are we reading?
🔗 Kareem Rahma’s American Dream: Kareem Rahma, the creator of the popular TikTok series Subway Takes, filmed a video with Harris earlier this year. It didn’t go as planned and was later scrapped. (The New York Times)
🔗 All Big Tech leaders congratulating Donald Trump: Big tech CEOs like Apple’s Tim Cook and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg are congratulating Trump on his victory and pledging to work with the man who, Emma Roth rightly points out, threatened to put some of them in jail. (The edge)
🔗 What Trump’s victory means for Silicon Valley: Cristiano Lima does a great job laying out how the incoming Trump administration could regulate Silicon Valley tech companies. It covers everything from committee assignments to policy issues like data privacy and antitrust. (The Washington Post)
The download
Leah, Tim and Tori recorded WIRED Policy Lab podcast today about how Elon Musk may have helped give Trump his victory. listen to it here.
That’s all for today. Thanks again for subscribing. You can contact me by email, instagram, unknownand Signal at makenakelly.32.
