Why Biden had to join TikTok
Staying off the platform in 2024 wasn’t really an option. Here’s why they joined and why it matters.
FWIW, this week’s newsletter is sponsored by Amplify.ai
In probably the biggest digital campaign news in months, the Biden campaign joined TikTok this week. Maybe it was inevitable, but in this week’s FWIW, I’ll break down some reasons why the campaign joined TikTok and why it matters. I’ll also share my take on Meta’s announcement last week that the company will soon take action to stem the flow of political content on Instagram and Threads. But first…
By the numbers
FWIW, political advertisers spent just over $9.6 million on Facebook and Instagram ads last week. These were the top ten spenders nationwide:
For several weeks, a shady Crypto industry group has been running Facebook ads targeting Sen. Sherrod Brown, who is facing a tough re-election campaign this year. The Cedar Innovation Foundation is pressuring Brown (who is also the Senate Banking Committee Chair) to “stand up to SEC Chair Gary Gensler,” who they call an “anti-blockchain absolutist.” According to Coindesk, the group won’t reveal who’s behind it.
Meanwhile, political campaigns spent $3.9 million on Google and YouTube ads last week. Here were the top ten spenders nationwide:
Most political ad spending on Google & YouTube last week was in California, where numerous offices are up for grabs (see: U.S. Senate) in a March 5th statewide primary election. The biggest spender last week was the Safety for All Newsom Ballot Measure Committee, Gov. Newsom’s well-funded campaign to pass a ballot measure funding a new mental health initiative to address the homelessness crisis in the state. You can view their ads here >>
Back on the East Coast, Rep. David Trone (D-MD) was again a top spender on Google & YouTube as he runs for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat. The stakes of that race got much higher this week, as popular former Gov. Larry Hogan announced his run on the Republican ticket. Hogan’s campaign has yet to run ads on Facebook or Google, but here’s his announcement video, FWIW:
On Snapchat, political advertisers in the U.S. have spent $173,300 on ads year to date. Here are the top spenders:
Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is running new fundraising ads on Snapchat that feature her ticking off liberal policy priorities in a minute-and-a-half long rant-style video.
…and lastly, here are the top spending political advertisers on X (formerly Twitter) in 2024:
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Your 2024 digital dispatch
FWIW, here’s how weekly digital ad spending (Facebook/Instagram, Google/YouTube) compares between the Trump and Biden campaigns year-to-date:
Year to date, the Biden campaign has spent $5.1 million on digital advertising, compared to $597,000 spent by the Trump campaign.
From around the internet:
TIME magazine went long on this profile of MrBeast, “the most watched person in the world.”
OpenAI introduced “Sora”, its new text-to-video model, and it’s insane.
A Super PAC supporting RFK Jr.’s presidential bid ran a 30 second Super Bowl ad that repurposed a (very annoying) ad from JFK’s 1960 presidential run. The ad cost the PAC $7 million and also brought RFK Jr a whole lot of trouble with his relatives.
A new report from NYU Stern found that despite the major disruptions and violence that have come to surround US politics since 2020, social media companies like Meta, Google, and X are actually *decreasing* their election integrity efforts.
Dan Pfeiffer joined Brian Derrick and Glennis Meagher on the Vibes Only podcast to talk about the pollercoaster, the collective media freakout on Biden’s age, and more. Listen here >>
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What’s happening with Meta and political content?
Last week, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri shared the news that Threads and Instagram will no longer surface political content to users in key parts of the apps’ real estate, including “Explore, Reels, In-Feed Recommendations and Suggested Users.” It’s a very big deal heading into a chaotic presidential election year.
Over the past 5 years, I’ve chronicled Meta’s fraught relationship with political (and news) content. The TL;DR is that Facebook went hard into news and politics, built entire teams around it, invested heavily in promoting and moderating political content, got burned and criticized for not doing enough, and then backed the f*** away. (For a much more eloquent history lesson on this, read Katie Harbath’s recent post here.)
Within that context, Mosseri’s announcement is entirely expected. What we don’t know, however, is how serious or successful the company will be in its effort to turn down the volume of political content on IG and Threads. For a potential glimpse at Instagram’s non-political future, just take a look at what’s happened on Facebook over the past 3 years in terms of engagement with political posts:
As you can see, conservative, liberal, and mainstream news mega-pages have seen their Facebook post engagement crater over the past three years. If a political page had millions of followers, that used to translate into likes, shares, and comments in the tens of thousands (or hundreds of thousands). Not anymore.
This story has been covered a lot this week by some of the smartest people in media, tech, and politics. For more reading on Meta’s move, I recommend you check out:
Meta turns its back on politics again, angering some news creators (Taylor Lorenz / Washington Post)
When does something become political? (Katie Harbath / Anchor Change)
Meta punts on politics (Casey Newton / Platformer)
All Politics Are Social (Oliver Darcy / Reliable Sources)
Why Biden had to join TikTok
In probably the biggest digital campaign news in months, the Biden campaign joined TikTok this week. In a statement, Deputy Campaign Manager Rob Flaherty said the move was “proof positive of both our commitment and success in finding new, innovative ways to reach voters in an evolving, fragmented, and increasingly personalized media environment.”
Since joining Sunday night, the campaign has already used the platform to push back against unfair media coverage, spotlight AOC’s support for the President, double down on Student Debt Relief, and mock Trump’s senility. In just five days, they’ve received 13.1 million views, 1 million likes, and 20,000 comments and gained 145,000 followers.
This move was a long time coming - and from my point of view, the Biden campaign had little choice but to join TikTok. Here’s why I think they ultimately made the decision to join and why it matters:
TikTok is a different platform from 2020
In 2020, the DNC explicitly warned campaigns to stay off the platform, due to very real security concerns related to the company’s Chinese ownership. Back then, there were about 100 million monthly active users in the U.S., and the app was mostly rough videos of teenagers doing cringe dance trends or speaking straight to camera.
Now, TikTok is becoming all-encompassing. The number of Americans using the app has skyrocketed to over 170 million monthly active users – which is about half of the total US population. It’s no longer just a place for short-form, direct-to-camera videos or just for younger audiences for that matter. The app added graphic & photo sliders last year and recently doubled down on long-form horizontal videos; the platform’s core user base is also increasing in age.
Look at the alternatives
The Biden campaign joining TikTok is happening at a moment of massive upheaval for politics and news content on social media.
As I wrote above, Instagram, Threads, and Facebook are making it more difficult than ever for political campaigns and organizations to reach new audiences on their platforms. X/Twitter has declined in relevance as many users fled the platform due to Elon Musk’s chaos. Snapchat has doubled down on being a place for close friends and family, making political content discovery not a central focus.
If you’re a political content creator and you want eyeballs on your videos or posts from people who don’t already follow you, TikTok and YouTube are pretty much becoming the only places you can go.
Reaching the Democratic coalition
Of course, one of the main reasons for the Biden campaign joining TikTok is the type of people who make up the platform’s core user base and how they overlap with Biden’s electoral coalition.
The Biden campaign currently has its hands full with a bunch of pissed-off young activists who are very vocal about what’s happening in Palestine. Over the coming months, the President’s team and their allies will need to communicate the stakes of the election to this skeptical younger generation - and much of that messaging will take place on TikTok.
Asymmetrical warfare
Joining TikTok is also a way for the Biden campaign to ramp up a type of asymmetrical digital warfare against the Trump campaign. Team Trump has somewhat shunned mainstream platforms and has been underinvesting in online outreach so far this cycle.
While it remains entirely possible that Team Trump will soon join TikTok too, their schtick is so rabidly anti-China that it may bind them into staying off the platform. Trump’s absence is currently an advantage that team Biden can exploit.
Downstream effects
The Biden campaign’s decision to join TikTok despite their previously stated security concerns also could have ripple effects beyond the presidential race. Will more Democratic statewide candidates and members of Congress feel more comfortable joining the app now that the President’s team is using it? Currently, only a few dozen prominent statewide officials and members of Congress are on TikTok, but that could soon change.
To dig deeper into the Biden-joins-TikTok story this week, make sure to check out these links:
The Moneyball Theory of Presidential Social Media (Charlie Warzel / The Atlantic)
TikTokers Have Some Advice For Joe Biden’s New Account (Rachel Janfaza / POLITICO)
One more thing: Are you two a couple?
Speaking of Biden on TikTok, his team at the White House partnered with popular feel-good account @meetcutesnyc for this Valentine's Day gem:
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