In our public consciousness, there is a stereotypical impression of the “young voter.” Ranging from the ages of 18 to 29, both political parties court these voters, but they typically lean liberal and toward the Democratic Party, especially at colleges like UConn. Leading up to the 2024 election, the prevailing expectation was that young adults would turn out in large numbers for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, much like they did for Joe Biden in 2020. Some polls had Harris leading by 20 percentage points or more among young voters.
In short, that did not happen. Donald Trump won the election comfortably and captured a sizable share of young voters, including 56% of young men, according to AP exit polls. In addition, young people didn’t get out to vote as much in this election as in 2020.
The reasons behind this rightward shift and general downturn in voting speak to a crisis of information for young adults. Part of the problem revolves around how we get our news—the power of social media and podcasts are now ruling the day. About four in 10 young adults get their news from TikTok, according to a study from Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan think tank. Socia media apps in general have become the most common news source for 18 to 29-year-olds.
The dangers of using social media for news are quite clear; there is far more potential for misinformation to spread like wildfire on algorithms designed to push entertaining and interesting content. It’s no coincidence that president-elect Trump, who has made a career out of misleading and false claims, joined TikTok this year and amassed 14 million followers after previously trying to ban the app during his first term. He also collaborated with social media influencers such as Logan Paul to court the youth vote, especially young men.
Another hallmark of Trump’s 2024 campaign was sitting for interviews on podcasts; this year’s presidential contest was often dubbed the “podcast election.” Harris also appeared on podcast shows, but Trump made them a central focus instead of doing more traditional interviews with legacy media outlets. He appeared on 13 shows in total, including the “Joe Rogan Experience,” which holds first place in listeners on Spotify.
The specific episode where Rogan speaks with Trump has more than 46 million views on YouTube. Most of these shows feature hosts who are entertainment-oriented. Rogan and his contemporaries aren’t interested in providing hard-hitting questions, and that’s exactly why the shift from established media to laid-back podcasts is dangerous for finding information. While podcasters reach a large audience who trust them, they have no responsibility to provide that audience with serious news, creating a media environment where the only exposure many potential voters get to a candidate is uninformative. Trump capitalized on this by making his interviews friendly, wide-ranging chats instead of a back-and-forth driven by policy.
The current crisis of misinformation is amplified by the fact that young people have nothing to replace it with, as many don’t follow news closely; according to Pew Research Center, just 19 percent of young adults paid close attention to the news as of 2022. At the same time, they often lack a basic understanding of civics or how the government works. Without this knowledge of current events and the foundations of democracy, young adults are frequently left woefully uninformed. This presents an issue for voting in general, as studies have shown that young people who feel informed are more likely to vote than those who don’t feel that way.
How can we solve this problem? For one, news organizations still focused on delivering serious information should make attempts to meet young people where they currently are on social media and podcasts. National Public Radio, better known as NPR, is leading the charge in this area; their podcast, “Up First from NPR,” is ranked eighth in the Spotify charts for shows categorized as news. In addition, states should work to improve the quality of civics education for young people. Currently, just nine states and the District of Columbia require a full year of U.S government instruction; Connecticut only requires a half year course. By improving and bolstering civics courses, states would increase the ability of young people to engage with our governmental system and feel better prepared to participate by casting their vote.
However, the final key for increasing youth knowledge and participation in politics is young people themselves. We should seek out information and educate ourselves to better understand our government and the world. Instead of relying on social media and entertainment podcasts to interact with politics, we should read more news articles and watch more coverage. For the next election, a more informed and active electorate, especially among young adults, will likely be crucial in deciding the outcome.
I think too much Democratic messaging is predicated on the idea that if people were just smarter then they would understand why Dems are better on X or Y. And I think generally it is true, but I think media, civics education, or any other kind of thing fundamentally won’t make people smarter or more informed. I think the culture we live in is just too stressed by economic factors to really spend much time on learning about politics or civics. Republicans clearly have no trouble appealing to the unintelligent and uninformed, so I don’t see why the democrats can’t also try to do that. It’s probably a lot easier to earn the votes of these people on their own level than it is to reinvent them into educated, thoughtful voters.