The Rock the Next Barack?
Who doesn’t love The Rock? I know I do. I mean, come on, he was named the sexiest man alive in 2016, so you have to give him some credit. Now, if you don’t already know who I’m talking about, I’m referring to Dwayne Johnson. Dwayne Johnson, also known as ‘The Rock’, is a pro wrestler turned movie actor who has appeared in many major films such as San Andreas, Central Intelligence, Moana, and most recently Jumanji, just to name a few. As a result of his celebrity status, he has garnered a rather large social media following with about 12.5 million followers on Twitter and just under 100 million followers on Instagram.
Apparently, Johnson now wants to add being president to his list of titles. A couple of months ago while on The Ellen Show, he stated that he is “seriously considering” running in a future presidential election.
This does not come as a surprise as many other celebrities have also mentioned their interest in running for president like Kanye, Oprah, and a few others. Not only that, but the current president of the United States is, in fact, a celebrity himself. Therefore, it is not such a crazy idea for Johnson to have an interest in entering the election and it is not at all impossible for him to win… It is actually very likely that he could win.
Now you may be saying to yourself…woah, hold up, just because The Rock has a huge following does not mean that he is guaranteed the presidency. Well, while that may be true, a huge social media following can substantially increase his chances. Even though the presidential election is thought to only be about the candidates’ proposed policies and promised actions, it does not seem to be working that way anymore. More and more people are flocking to social media to spend their time, get their voices heard, to share their opinions and interests, etc. Just look at Donald Trump and the thousands of responses he gets for his tweets. The world is changing and it is becoming more influential to have a large following on social media than anything else.
Johnson has such a large following that with one tweet or Instagram post, he could reach and influence millions of people. Just by announcing that he is considering running for president, people are taking to social media to show their overwhelming support of this idea. The public has already created a hashtag on Twitter (#TheRock2020) and a fan page for his election.
Thus, Johnson has the potential to sweep the nation and the election with a click of a button. If he stays consistent and engaged with his followers on social media, he would have no problem winning over the votes of the public. Social media has become a channel where people go to express their true thoughts and opinions, and many have already expressed their willingness to support Johnson. Black Mirror, a show on Netflix, does a great job of exemplifying this concept of how being a public icon is a huge advantage in a political campaign. In the episode, The Waldo Moment, Waldo, a satirical cartoon character, runs as a candidate in a political election. One would think that it is only a publicity stunt in which no one would actually vote for him; however, that is not the case. Waldo becomes the runner-up in the election, which proves just how influential he was to the public. Therefore, Johnson is already one step ahead. He is already a public icon because of his celebrity status and social media following, which is exactly why Johnson has a chance of winning in a presidential election.
Now let’s say, as an example, Johnson did win the election, this would not be the first time a celebrity or public icon has won a presidential election. First there was Ronald Reagan and now it is Donald Trump (Independent). People vote for who they can relate to and who they like rather than just looking at the politics of the election. (Ahem, Trudeau with his hair and good looks). Johnson has a large audience, people already know him, people already like him, which pretty much gives him everything he needs to win. He can just take his campaign to social media and with the click of a button he could have his campaign seen and talked about by millions of people. Not only that, but as a celebrity and a social media star, he would get social media coverage AND traditional media coverage because of his popularity and status. Nowadays, people care about who/what is trending online and if Johnson runs for president, he would be trending in seconds.
Is there any chance that Johnson’s popularity could backfire on him? Nope. Just look at Donald Trump. He was well-known beforehand from his billion dollar empire and his TV show, The Celebrity Apprentice, and did that backfire on him? His tweets before and during the election did not hinder his results, they are probably what helped him win (Independent).
Moreover, if you have a large social media following, it is rarely a disadvantage, but more of an advantage. In the end, social media is taking over and it could become the next new way to winning an election.
So, would you vote for The Rock?
…If not, you may be one of the only few who won’t.
