With the 2024 election just a couple of months away, celebrities and influencers have begun to voice their opinions. Whether they are endorsing a candidate, or just telling people to vote, their voices are very influential to young voters.
ABC News mentions this in their article, Celebrities do have an impact on elections, Harvard study finds. In their article, Ashley Spline the study’s author and civic engagement and political expert said, “‘Right now, young voters have relatively low levels of trust in a lot of leaders and institutions, including traditional news media — but celebrities are often a rare exception.’”
High schoolers are constantly on social media, many of which are receiving news about the election as well. But while they might be getting this news, the majority of them can’t act on it since they aren’t eighteen and therefore can’t vote in elections. Even with this knowledge many influencers and celebrities are still making posts about the election and attempting to sway people one way or another.
In a recent survey, Lincoln East students, ranging from freshman to seniors, were asked how often they see propaganda on social media. Results showed that almost 20% of students see political propaganda every time they go on social media, and 40% of students said that they see it almost every time they open social media.
There are many people who notice these celebrities, but how do we know if celebrity and influencer endorsements are impacting the election at all? Taylor Swift has played one of the biggest roles when it comes to celebrity endorsements. She provided a link, along with her endorsement, to convince people to sign up to vote. That link got hundreds of thousands of clicks and many new people have registered to vote. Certain celebrities are definitely making an impact when it comes to the election
Since Generation Z has a lack of trust, young people are very easily influenced to follow celebrities they look up to. We notice this with cancel culture and how everyone will turn on someone at the drop of a hat, even if it turns out that it was misinformation. So while some people keep their values close to their chests, others might be willing to let their idols make these decisions for them. While influencers might not be able to make decisions for you, they definitely make an impact on younger voters who aren’t sure about their decision in the 2024 election.
