Social Media in Politics

     In the current day and age that we live in, many individuals depend on social media as their source of news and hope. Politicians are aware of the marketing tool that social media truly is. Social media plays a significant role in electing candidates. Another reason why many politicians use social media is not only because many individuals use social media daily, but because social media's target audience is typically younger individuals. Many politicians try to market towards younger individuals, so that younger voter turn up will be higher at the polls. Even though politicians do try to market to younger people through social media, it truly does depend on the specific social media platform the politician uses. For example, Facebook would target more older adults, while Instagram and TikTok would target a younger demographic. 

   The first person that I researched was Ken Russell. Ken Russel was the City of Miami's Commissioner. Ken Russel is a Democrat who ran to be on the United States House of Representatives. While Mr. Russell was running for the house, his social media accounts were highly active. His side of the election was very well documented through TikTok. His main topic of interest was to protect the water areas near Florida and the United States. This is an excellent topic whenever representing Florida due to the large amount of water (Atlantic Ocean) surrounding the state.

     Most of Russell's videos show him providing commentary about his thoughts about people dumping random trash into the ocean. Most of his commentary provides a more comical approach to severe issues that could be fixed through governmental change, such as laws. His posts on Tiktok were quite exciting and showed that he understands the Gen Z population by being able to follow specific internet trends.

His other social media platforms include; Facebook and Instagram.

    His Facebook is much more professional looking. His Facebook contains photos of him with different people in the community of Florida in his district. It shows him thanking individuals for all that they have done. Other images show him promoting various programs that he wanted to implement.

His biography on his Facebook page, provides his phone number, website link, and his political team's contact email. His photos are all professional looking as well, showing him at board meetings, showing him taking pictures with different political members, and showing him working on projects to help the community. It was interesting researching him because his main interest was environmental efforts to keep the surrounding water around Florida clean as well as many other oceans and bodies of water.

    This was interesting because before he became a politician, he had received a degree in Business Administration and had opened up a watersports store where he primarily sold Surf Boards. His previous business indeed showed that he does have a passion for keeping bodies of water clean and safe for people to use and not abuse. Lastly, Russel's Instagram combines his TikTok goofy side with his Facebook professional side. His Instagram mainly provided updates such as when the primary election was, as well as what his policies are, and it included some TikToks. 

Lastly, let's Review Ken Russel's Marketing Techniques through Social Media Platforms. He honestly did quite well-updating voters about what he truly cared about politically and formed a great media personality showing what he would do to help the community. The most remarkable example of him genuinely caring about the voters of Florida was when he threatened to quit during a Commissioner Meeting because everyone else (despite their hefty paycheck) wanted to leave before December. This demonstrated that even though he would have to work during the holidays, he would still work for Florida's residents. He indeed created great publicity for himself. 

Followers: TikTok: 429.3 thousand Followers, and 13.7 million Likes

Instagram: 6,981 Followers

Facebook: 3.6 thousand followers

    Annette Taddeo was the candidate who ran against him. She used social media as well. She is well known as the daughter of a WW2 fighter pilot. Her website speaks about the many struggles that she has gone through, including the many surgeries that she has had performed since she was born to fix her cleft lip. Her website also mentions that when she was 17, her dad was kidnaped by a Cuban terrorist group, and while they were abducted, she fled from Colombia into the United States. She also speaks about how she was also a small business owner.

    The main issues she focuses on are living wages, women's reproductive rights, small business economic laws, affordable healthcare, etc. Annette Taddeo is also quite active on TikTok. Her TikTok covers her different political goals, mainly with her speaking at conferences about the change she wants to see in Florida and hopefully in the Senate in DC. The exciting thing about her TikTok is that about ½ of her TikTok's in English, while the other half is in Spanish. She is Latina and shows her heritage through her campaign trail. The caption on her most recent TikTok states, "I don't need a title to get shit done. I said I was in the race from my daughter Sofia, and that's the truth. I refuse to give up because we will fail the next generation. I will continue to fight because freedom is worth fighting for."

This video shows her at a conference speaking about a text message that her 16-year-old daughter
sent to her talking about laws about school shootings and about woman's rights and how, through this platform, she knows that she will be able to not only help her daughter, but lots of other girls, women, and men of Florida and the US as she ran for Senate. Annette Taddeo’s Instagram shows more of her personal life than compared to Ken Russell. Her Facebook page highlights the political side of her life and her life as a mom and small business owner. Her Instagram page is also quite similar to her Facebook and TikTok. Many of her posts on Instagram show either a behind scenes of her posts on Facebook or have identical posts to her Facebook page. 

Followers: TikTok: 9428 thousand Followers, and 116.1 thousand Likes

Instagram: 7,066 Followers

Facebook: 11,000 followers

So.... Who won??

Annette Taddeo won against Ken Russell in the Democratic Primary for the 27th Congressional District. Honestly, both Taddeo's and Russell's TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook showed a great interpretation of who they are. Both of these candidates used social media as a fantastic marketing tool to hopefully be voted for in the Democratic Primary Election. The main difference between their social media is that Taddeo took a more severe heart-string tugging stance, while Ken Russell took a more comedic approach.