The social dilemma
FAMOUS FACES ON BOTH SIDES OF THE POLITICAL DIVIDE ARE USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO PERSUADE THEIR LEGION OF FANS TO VOTE IN NEXT WEEK’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. BUT EXPERTS QUESTION WHETHER THEY HAVE THE POWER TO INFLUENCE THE RESULT
FROM bikini-clad babes posting on social media to encourage voter turnout, to serious frontline campaigning, the US presidential election non-stop celeb-fest.
But political experts say the influence of these stars is much less direct than they themselves would like to believe.
Damien Kingsbury, Professor of International Politics at Deakin University, says although there is little data on the impact of celebrity endorsements, his believes they matter “only at the very margins”.
“It’s probably more a feel-good factor for the celebrities themselves rather than having any significant impact on the election itself,” Kingsbury says.
In 2016, Hillary Clinton’s campaign was endorsed by marquee names such as LeBron James and Beyonce, while only washed-up Dlisters like Scott Baio and Antonio Sabato Jr backed Donald Trump.
After Trump’s victory, conservative commentators had a jamboree with this fact, suggesting Clinton’s celebrity pals were part of the elite the American public were repudiating by voting for Trump. (Although should be remembered Clinton won the popular vote.)
“There is a strong sense among disengaged working class Americans that the celebrities are part of this elite that they feel disassociated from and which has long since ceased to represent their interests,” Kingsbury is a it says. But celebrity, he says, “has a status in the US that it doesn’t enjoy in most other places. They’re almost a faux royalty.” Hollywood and the entertainment world has historically skewed liberal — recent Oscars have been a veritable Trump pile-on — but interestingly, “The Donald” is enjoying a bit more celebrity love in 2020, with the likes of Conor McGregor and 50 Cent offering supportive statements, joining his other backers such as Jon Voight, James Woods and Kid Rock.
Kingsbury says this small shift reflects the increasing polarisation of American politics. “People are taking sides more clearly this time around than they did four years ago … and hence Donald Trump is receiving some support from people who have bought his populist style,” he says.
Associate Professor Elaine Thompson, formerly of the School of Politics at the University of NSW, says Australians tend to have a more sceptical response to celebrities — part of the tall poppy syndrome — but Americans have a “crown the victor” approach.
Nevertheless, celebrity endorsements are “not going to convert anybody on the opposite side or convince anybody in the middle who didn’t know which way to jump”, she says.
“They matter most to the group that have already made up their minds. They reinforce their view of the world.”
Where celebrities might make a difference, Thompson says, is in contests where voters’ positions are less fixed and more fluid, such as congressional races and state legislatures. The 2020 campaign has seen a number of celebrities make political statements for the first time, but experts say some of these contributions are more valuable than others.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle appeared in a video urging voters to “reject hate speech, misinformation and online negativity” — perceived by many as a swipe against Donald Trump and earning them yet another rebuke from Piers Morgan.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s support of Joe Biden can be much more influential, experts say.
“It’s not about the celebrities themselves, it’s about their followers,” Melbourne University marketing lecturer Dr Brent Coker says. “The Rock’s follower’s are highly valuable, because they would be that younger demographic, who have traditionally been challenging to get out to vote.”
The fact Johnson has not previously backed a political candidate gives his endorsement added interest, Coker says.
BUT The Rock is not the only celebrity with massive appeal among youth. Kylie Jenner, Bella Hadid, Hailey Bieber and Sofia Richie are among a string of social media stars who have posted provocative selfies aimed at boosting voter turnout ahead of the November 3 election.
While some of the images are borderline explicit, the message often isn’t explicitly endorsing either Trump or Biden. Instead, they are driving young people to enrol to vote and cast a ballot.
Posing in a strapless floral bikini, Kylie Jenner asked her 199 million followers: “Are you registered to vote? Click the link in my bio and let’s make a plan to vote together.”
The link she posted with it, directing her audience to the official voter enrolment site, was credited with a 1500 per cent surge in traffic to vote.org, and resulted in an 80 per cent increase in registrations.
That meant about 48,000 American citizens registered to vote by clicking on the link Jenner posted in her Instagram profile.
“Following Kylie Jenner’s Instagram post, the surge in interactions with Vote.org’s registration verification tool speaks to an energy among young Americans who want to make sure their voices are heard this election,” vote.org chief executive Andrea Hailey says in a statement to The Hill.
Wearing a high-cut bikini, Hadid made a political statement urging her 34.7 million Instagram audience: “Don’t forget to vote … it’s time.”
Zoe Kravitz posed topless to spruik the voter registration message and Taylor Swift went so far as to publicly endorse Biden on the cover of W magazine.
A frequent fixture in the Instagram voting movement has been Hailey Bieber, who sported a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan, “Voting is hot.” “The coolest, hottest, most attractive thing you can do is VOTE,” Bieber captioned her selfie.
In a separate shoot, she posed with an “I voted” sticker on her cheek, while in another selfie the model wore a black face mask with the word “vote” written on it.
“We are getting closer and closer to election day so make sure you either get your early vote in or that you’re ready to vote in person (with a mask),” she captioned the image, to her nearly 30 million Instagram followers.
In one of the more risque examples of celebrity voting thirst traps (a term commonly used to describe sexy, scantly-clad Instagram posts designed to attract attention), Diplo — one of the world’s topearning DJs worth $36.5 million — posed fully naked, captioning the image: “Don’t forget to register to vote.”
A fully-clothed Kim Kardashian West told her followers: “Please VOTE! You have the power to change your future!”
Kardashian West — who is married to presidential candidate, rapper Kanye West — has not publicly endorsed her husband’s campaign for the White House.