U.S. politicians have been critical of short-form video platform TikTok because TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is a Chinese company and could pose a threat to U.S. security.
The negative sentiment toward TikTok was not irrelevant to the ruling and opposition parties. The U.S. Congress passed the “TikTok Ban Act” in April. The main content of the bill is to ban services in the U.S. unless ByteDance sells TikTok by January 19 next year.
However, TikTok is showing a strong presence in U.S. politics to the extent that this atmosphere has been overshadowed by the presidential race. Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democratic presidential candidate, and former President Donald Trump, a Republican presidential candidate, seem to be making great efforts to campaign on TikTok. This is because TikTok and short-form content have a huge impact on young people called Gen Z (born in late 1990s and early 2010s).
Voice of America (VOA) analyzed in a report on the 5th (local time) that TikTok is playing an important role in the presidential campaign as it can be a tool to reach the Gen.G. generation in the United States.
President Trump opened an official account on TikTok in June and Vice President Harris launched an election campaign using short-form content on the 25th of last month. The first candidate to dominate the TikTok platform is Vice President Harris.
He overturned expectations that he would be inferior in the presidential race and caught up with former President Trump in recent polls, which analysts say that online content that young people are voluntarily making has a significant impact.
When Harris became the Democratic nominee, the younger generation started making “coconut” memes (online trending content) derived from Harris’ comments and laughter on TikTok. Consequently, coconut has emerged as the trademark of Harris. Harris mentioned the “coconut tree” during her speech at the White House in May last year to emphasize the need to provide universal educational opportunities. The remark was made as a joke to emphasize that everything has a social context, but it did not have any particular political significance. However, the remark, combined with Harris’ unique smile, has become an online trend. As a politician, strong laughter, random words, and clumsy gestures, which can be weaknesses, have been reinterpreted as candidness by the Gen.G. generation, which have increased their favorability.
Former President Trump is also actively trying to win votes for young people by using TikTok. In a video posted on his TikTok account on June 24, former President Trump said, “I’m going to protect TikTok.”
He took the opposite attitude of expressing security concerns and saying that he would consider banning TikTok during his presidency. This is interpreted as being conscious of TikTok users’ votes.
In addition, former President Trump recently posted a video of him dancing with popular TikTok user Adin on his TikTok account. In addition, the video of him posing for a fight with popular YouTuber and boxer Jake Paul has more than 157 million views. However, it is Vice President Harris who is receiving more positive responses from young people using TikTok.
The fact that she is a woman, relatively young compared to other candidates, and that she has a unique personality have been factors that have drawn the attention of the younger generation in the online space.
The U.S. media interprets that young people, who felt tired of the competition between the elderly President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, are enthusiastic about the image of Harris, who is relatively young and lively.
Vice President Harris posted her first post since opening her TikTok account on April 25, saying, “I thought it was time to take the mound in person after hearing that I was on TikTok’s FYP.” Her TikTok account attracted more than 1 million followers in just six hours.
The Democratic Party’s presidential campaign account also more than quadrupled its followers from 440,000 to 1.8 million after changing its name from “Biden” to “Camala.”
When popular pop singer Charlie XCX declared his support, “Harris is a bad boy,” “Bratt” became the most popular symbol of Harris’ vice president on social media. As a result, a war of nerves has begun to unfold targeting the other party’s short-form content campaign.
According to CNBC on Wednesday, former President Trump posted on social media Truth Social, “Did anyone notice that Kamala Harris used a trick at the airport?” “There was no one underneath the plane, but he used AI to show what he called a follower. They don’t really exist.”
He was referring to a crowd at the scene when Vice President Harris got off at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Romulus, Michigan, on the 7th.
He posted a video on TikTok showing him getting off with his running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, on his private jet “Air Force Two.”
In response, Harris’ campaign refuted former President Trump’s claim, calling it a “real crowd” and said 15,000 supporters gathered at the airport at the time of the camp.
SALLY LEE
US ASIA JOURNAL
