Wild Card- Cory Booker

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                                                                         Cory Booker's Online Presence

     

    Cory Booker is one of the many politicians who understand social media's importance in politics. Social media plays a vital role in not only spreading important information, but it is also a great tool to portray yourself in a good light and paint yourself as a good candidate. This is the #1 reason social media is such an excellent tool for a politician running for re-election or even for a politician showing what they are doing as an appointed leader in Government. Social Media provides a space where individuals feel that they are getting to know the candidate more on a personal level. 


    Cory Booker is currently the Democratic senator of New Jersey. Cory Booker is the first ever African American Senator from New Jersey. He is a politician, attorney, and author. In this paper, we will be looking At Cory Booker's online presence. We will also look at his website and other forms of social media. We will be looking at how these marketing tools have formed a positive portrayal of who he is, and we will look at how social media has helped him become elected as the Democratic Senator in New Jersey. 



   His website includes a summary of his life and how he grew up. His website mentions that he grew up in New Jersey. His website also brings up his educational background, stating that Booker received his bachelor's and Master's degree from Stanford, where he was also a college athlete playing football. The website then moved from speaking about his early background in college to the time after he graduated and created a nonprofit which helped low-income families. This nonprofit provided low-income families with free legal advice and services. 

  

    The website mentions that he ultimately saw where many individuals could benefit from legal and political change by living in these lower-income areas. One of the many issues he cared about that affected these lower-income neighborhoods was "lower access to quality healthcare, environmental injustice, food insecurity, and fixing the criminal justice system." Cory was mayor of Newark, New Jersey, from 2006 to 2013 for six years, and then he was elected to the United States Senate in 2013, where he also worked for six years. '

    

    In a specific area on his website, located under the legislation section, we can see that he supports specific bills. Some of these bills include a bill concerning the Fentanyl usage and abuse problems that are occuring in America. Another bill that we can see is a bill against harassment based on certain qualities such as disability, age, ethnicity, sex, etc. In another section of his website, we see tabs including his main concerns such as; Health care, Criminal Justice, Foreign Policy & National Security, Economic Opportunity, Environmental issues, and overall Civil Rights. 

His social media accounts are pretty active. His TikTok shows him walking in his community, sharing wise words about different scenarios. An excellent example of this would be the video listed below, showing him giving a motivational talk about 





   His videos are quite inspirational. Many provide a great picture of what New Jersey looks like in terms of how diverse the community he lives in is. The video below shows him speaking about a Spanish-speaking church down the road, while on the other end is a mosque. He then films him interacting with some of the men who go to the mosque and teaching the people watching his TikTok about the kind greetings that these individuals speak in Arabic. 




    One of the comments on this video states, "YOU are the people's LEADER!!! Love how you embrace your community at all corners, people culture, and always with peace!!!" 

Underneath her comment, Mr. Booker responds, "Deep gratitude to you for sharing this spirit. You encourage me." 


    His response and other posts, specifically on TikTok, show a peaceful, calm, and an overall composed persona. His TikTok takes a different approach than what would have normally been expected as a politician. Because many community leaders and politicians try to reach a younger demographic, the assumption would have been that Mr. Booker would have taken more of a comedic approach. Instead, he takes a more inspirational and educational approach. 

   His response and other posts, specifically on TikTok, show a peaceful, calm, and an overall composed persona. His TikTok takes a different approach than what would have normally been expected as a politician. Because many community leaders and politicians try to reach a younger demographic, the assumption would have been that Mr. Booker would have taken more of a comedic approach. Instead, he takes a more inspirational and educational approach. 

    His videos portray himself as humble and grateful for his position in the Government. 

 

    - His TikTok currently has 327,400 followers. Cory Booker also has 2.7 million likes on his TikTok page. 


    

    Cory Booker's Facebook has all of his TikToks listed, as well as more professional photos showing
him campaigning and promoting local events. One of these events includes a book fair which is collecting money that will then be used to purchase prescription glasses for children in need. His Facebook also shares him thanking different community members and shouting them out. His Facebook page is more professional looking than his TikTok. Honestly, his social media platforms create the best viewpoint of a regular guy who loves his community.


    - His Facebook page currently has 1.2 million followers. 



    

    His Instagram is the same as his TikTok page. It does not seem like there is any difference. He posts his TikToks on his Instagram. The only difference between his TikTok and his Instagram page is that his Instagram page includes more running/athletic content than just his normal political content. His Instagram page currently has 1 million followers. 


    His YouTube includes short-form content and long-form content. His videos show more of his personal life. For example, some of his videos include him giving tribute to his brother, or giving a guide of what to purchase at the grocery store. He still has various TikToks transformed into YouTube Shorts listed on his page. 


    - His YouTube currently has 5,420 subscribers. 




    His Twitter is unique because there are more quotes and humorous commentary posted. However, his Twitter is also quite similar in the sense that most of his Twitter posts are already posted TikToks. 


    - His Twitter currently has 4.8 million followers. 




    His social media shows a good glimpse into him as a politician and bits of his personal life. His social media represent a man who cares about New Jersey and the little people. It shows him as a regular guy. Even though his base salary is $174, 000, and his Net worth is classified as 3 million, his social media perfectly portrays him as a man of the people. 

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