It’s a very exciting day! In addition to revamping this newsletter, I’ve just launched a new project featuring some of the biggest names in online political influence, both right and left.
Over the past week, I crowdsourced the names of some of the top meme accounts, TikTokers, and podcasters from across the political spectrum, and we created this interactive list. You’ll probably see some faces you recognize from your own social media feeds, but with how fragmented and personalized social media has become in recent years, it’s nearly impossible for the average internet user to keep up with everyone. This list can serve as a taste of what’s out there in the world of digital politics, from micro-influencers to mega-celebrities.
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A who’s who of politics on the net
In 2024, influencer marketing has become a mainstay of American politics. The White House, Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, former President Donald Trump’s campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and the Republican National Committee have all built vast networks of influencers and content creators. In the case of presidential candidates, their influencers follow them around the country at rallies and fundraisers, giving them access to their massive followings. An entire cottage industry of political creators has emerged, with companies as a good influence working to directly connect creators with the campaigns and issues that matter to them.
What I love about this list is that it acknowledges how impossible it is to account for everyone participating in the digital political space. Instead, think of this project as a chocolate sampler that includes the best examples of every flavor of political creator that exists online in this cycle. Some are much smaller, focusing on specific state legislatures. Others are billionaires, like Elon Musk. If you hover over someone’s name, you’ll see what their primary platform is, how many followers they have, a description of what they do, and how they connect to each other and to presidential campaigns.
While developing this piece, I noticed some significant differences between the types of creators Democrats and Republicans were looking to collaborate with online. Specifically, right-leaning creators tended to have much larger audiences than those working with left-leaning campaigns and organizations. To me, that showed that Democrats are spending a lot more time looking for people who will reach specific demographics that could prove important to their election results.
Interestingly, that finding falls in line with how the parties have been spending money on digital ads for years. Since I started covering this topic, I’ve spoken to several digital advertising experts who often comment that Republicans tend to target their ads statewide, while Democrats like to hypertarget theirs to specific ZIP codes. This is just a general trend, and not necessarily a rule (remember Cambridge Analytica?), but it would explain the size difference between creators’ followings. Come November, I guess we’ll see if it really is better to have more followers in this regard!