#PAID
#PAID : How could the Rock effectively leverage his widespread social media following to sweep the elections? Are there any ways in which pre-awareness could backfire?
It is almost impossible to deny the impact social media has had on our society in the past decade. Social media websites such as Twitter, Snapchat, and Reddit, to name a few, have all become largely popular over the past decade and have become some of the internet’s most visited websites/ applications. These applications have indeed revolutionized the way people communicate with each other and often, the number of followers a person has on any of these applications is a way to gauge exactly how influential they are.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XntCSxGRt34
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is an American actor, and a semi -retired professional wrestler. He is also one of the most followed celebrities on the internet with close to a 102 million followers on Instagram and close to 12.6 million followers on Twitter. All across the most popular social media applications, Dwayne Johnson is the Number 1 most followed person on the internet and has been featured in TIME magazine as one of the most influential people in the world. Dwayne Johnson has expressed a desire to run for office in 2020 but is not too certain yet. A celebrity running for office is not exactly a new concept considering that the most recently elected president had no political experience, used to be a game show host, and yet he managed to leverage his social media and manipulate his way into the White House. If Donald Trump could successfully win office, there is no reason why Dwayne Johnson, with his growing popularity, could not do the exact same.
With how deeply integrated social media is in most people’s lives, many companies and people have turned to social media to sell their products and services. Presidential candidates are no different. They often use their social media accounts to spread their campaigns and further their political agendas. For 2016, political ad spending was estimated at $12 billion which is almost 20 percent more than the amount spent in 2012. Unlike previous presidential years, more than half the digital budget was spent on campaigning through social media. Using social media as campaigning strategy was made popular by President Obama. His constant interaction with his audience during his campaign proved effective as he was able to reach minority groups and young voters which helped him secure the election in 2008 and 2012. The success of this campaigning strategy started a wave amongst future presidential candidates such as Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump who were extremely active on social media during their campaigns. As reported by CNN, the amount of millennial voters will surpass the amount of baby boomer voters in 2018 as the largest voter eligible age group. Considering how many millennial’s are active on social media and use it as a way to get their news and engage in political discussions, it would be massive advantage for the Rock in an election.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c8-H4RHIZQ
Social media reach during an election has been extensively researched. A study conducted in 2012 named “A 61 Million Person Experiment in Social Influence and Political Mobilization” basically tested to what extent voting behaviour could be influenced by Facebook messages. On Election day in 2010 (Congressional Midterms), close to 60 million facebook users were shown messages at the top of their feed that encouraged them to vote and also showed pictures of their friends that had voted. Ultimately this study showed that the facebook message resulted in an addition 340,000 votes thus resulting in a 0.60% growth from the 2006 election. Thus, the use of social media during election campaigning has proven to be a game changer.
Furthermore, the ability to reach the millennial demographic in elections is extremely vital as it could make or break a campaign. A recent study found that 40 % of people ranging from the age of 15 to 25 had taken an active role in participating in political discussion online, whether it was sharing a video about a presidential candidate or discussing other political events. Social media opens up a whole new world of engaged individuals and making sure your campaign reaches them is extremely important. Thus, with the reach that Dwayne Johnson has on social media, it would be hard to deny the possibility of Dwayne Johnsons possibly winning an election. He’s often very engaged on social media and is constantly interacting with all his followers and fans, thus he would be extremely successful with leveraging his social media in order to gain support and funds for his campaign. Of course there are factors that could come into play for example, there is no way to determine exactly how many of his followers are eligible to vote and are citizens of the US. Regardless, if he were to launch a campaign, his social media reach would be a game changer and it could lead to an election win.
In addition, pre-awareness could often be a reason why voters do vote for celebrities over somebody with political experience. Their comfort with knowing who they are or at least who the celebrity portrays they are via social media can lead to a vote. It helps that someone like Dwayne Johnson is extremely charismatic, well spoken and personable, because all these qualities could lend to a boost in his potential political campaign. However, pre- awareness could also lead to negativity as his past mistakes and mishaps could be brought up during his campaign and could potentially hurt it. However his huge social media following, his constant box office success and his personality are indicators that Dwayne Johnson is in good standing with the public and that he could sweep an election.
