A cutout of Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Governor Tim Walz, are displayed on a screen depicting a phone call from the pair. The caption reads, “democracy is calling, wyd?” A slideshow with photos of Harris captioned “infinite aura” was posted on Tiktok shortly after.
The user behind these posts? @kamalahq. While it is still unclear whether the account is affiliated with Harris’s actual campaign, the account (present on Instagram, X and Tiktok) has been tirelessly grinding out content this election season, eagerly hopping onto trends as they arise. The posts described above mean little more than gibberish to the majority of the voting body, yet they strike a chord within the younger voters.
These posts take on a humorous tone, making light of this stressful, tension-filled time in American politics. The posts seem to be focused less on broadcasting Harris’s policies and more on helping establish a larger-than-life feel to the presidential candidate. The Kamala HQ account doles out witty captions, snarky jabs at her opponent former President Donald Trump and, for lack of better terms, ‘girl boss’ moments.
This approach seems to be working.
The TikTok account holds a whopping 4 million followers, with comment sections overflowing with praise for the team behind the account and VP Harris herself.
The same account can be found on Instagram, with a pinned post stating that the account is “the official rapid response page of vice president Harris’ presidential campaign.” This post, in particular, was designed to mimic artist Charli XCX’s viral recent album, “BRAT”. The second slide of this post features a screenshot of a Charli XCX tweet. The artist simply wrote, “kamala IS brat”.
Evidently, @kamalahq is working to establish Harris as a young, relatable figure – characteristics that aren’t often seen in Trump. However, revolving the account on creating this specific image for Harris neglects a large audience, as this campaign really only works on Generation Z viewers. Over 50% of Tiktok users are non-Gen Z members. This means that while Harris might be garnering more support and attention from younger voters, this mission is not resonating with the majority of viewers.
@kamalahq has the right vision, and it is effective within its target audience, but beyond that, it is not nearly as effective. By using such obscure references and uniquely youthful trends, the account actually excludes older voters. It is extremely difficult for older Americans to connect with and even simply understand the message that @kamalahq is trying to get across.
This brings up the question of whether gearing campaigns toward the youngest voting generation is the best route to take. With the majority of social media content being produced by young people, it’s easy to forget that not all users are a part of this age demographic.
Just because Gen Z has a reputation for their social activism doesn’t mean that other generations don’t have a voice. Just because other generations are quieter does not mean they aren’t just as important as voters.
@kamalahq has without a doubt reshaped how campaigns, specifically on social media, are run. Now it’s simply a question of whether it will work in the polls. And that, unfortunately, is an answer that can only be found come this November.
