Bernie Sanders: a youngster for the Millenials and Generation Z
The politician who has been giving hope to young Americans.
After a heated US election the third of November 2020, especially first-time voters were ‘relieved and joyful’ as Biden won. Yet, some might have hoped for the democratic socialist from Vermont.
Bernie Sanders has been a senator since 2007, and in this time he has built up a huge following. As a hardcore socialist, he has managed to provoke a lot of people in the capitalist USA. But as time changes, so do the young minds who have grown up on social media: millennials and generation Z. Through Instagram, the senator is using his voice to reach out to this generation. Studies have also shown that The majority of Instagram’s U.S. users are millennials. This enhances his chances of reaching out to the younger generations online.
Attracting Generation Z
Yet how has this now 79-year-old man managed to attract so many young people? The answer might be in the fact that the layout on Instagram is arguably solely made to reach them. Especially in the case of Generation Z, the internet has provided a platform to create a deep interest in global warming and criticizing capitalism. However, they also have an interest in economic issues and his biggest political interests relate to debt and inequality. As well, Bernie Sanders has managed to break the code for reaching out. One way he has jumped on to the opportunity is with memes. The term describes a video or picture that is spread rapidly on the internet. With the inauguration in January 2021, his popularity took off when a picture of him circulated over the whole internet.
Meme Merch
He used this picture to create merch where all the money goes to organizations that align with him politically, with an emphasis on charity. Bernie Sanders has amassed a following of 6.7 million users; he used this to advertise his merchandise and managed to sell out of many products in just a few days, even though the products themselves would take around four months to arrive. His usage of Instagram is solely political and he shares his twitter posts, snippets of tv-interviews and other content on there. Recently, the topic of minimum wage in America has been Sanders’ focus and he specifically makes the audience feel included in a way where he shows a deep understanding. As a critique to former president Donald Trump, he has even written in his Instagram bio: Not me, us. With this he emphasizes through his platform how it is not government against inhabitants.
To conclude, one can see how Bernie Sanders has used his platforms, in this case Instagram, to reach out to the younger generation who will be the ones to “take over” in a few years. His online presence and the way he manages to influence a lot of people will undoubtedly have an impact on future American politics.
