The Unbudging Stagnancy of Internet Politics

The polls between our two parties are completely neck and neck—this is historically abnormal.We exist in an era of stasis—political worship has become religiously stubborn. Aiding this stagnancy is the internet-ification of politics, which has split deeper the factions of political loyalty in Americans. Politics have had a presence on the internet since the conception of social media; the novelty in this year’s political discourse is that the candidates—former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris—have directly tapped into this new market of potential voters. Due to how deeply ingrained and static political opinions are on the internet, these digital campaigns may be less effective than candidates believe them to be.

Recommended pages are—for most social media platforms—inundated with opinions, not information. As you exercise your thumbs by scrolling, you’ll encounter how some obscure influencer has been canceled, why bagels are actually evil, and how washing hands is actually a psyop by Big Water. The mutability of opinions have been intensified by the ever-adapting algorithm, yet the vastness of the internet renders these fluctuations negligible. If you’ve been online these past few months, there’s a decent chance you’ve come across Bratmala (a portmanteau of Vice President Kamala Harris and Charli XCX’s Brat (2024) album), fan edits of Harris to a Chappell Roan song, or Taylor Swift’s cleverly timed endorsement. Or maybe you don’t know what sport Chapel Rowing is, who Brat could possibly be and haven’t heard a Swift song since maybe “Shake It Off”—an applaudable feat given how inescapable she is. A separate area of the internet might as well be the other side of the galaxy—a distance exacerbated by the intimidatingly effective algorithms. 

In an experiment examining the influence of algorithms on political decisions, scientists used a covert algorithm in an attempt to fool participants into changing their voting decisions. Despite the participants’ subliminal pre-exposure to certain candidates, the placebo algorithm was ineffective in substantially changing voters’ decisions. This may seem indicative of how ineffective algorithms are in manipulating voters, but the truth is quite the opposite. Pre-existing biases have been so effectively ingrained by real-world algorithms that even conditions set specifically to prove the plasticity of such biases are futile. This places doubt upon the effectiveness of celebrity endorsements, as despite their ability to create powerful cultural moments—such as Charli XCX’s announcement that “Kamala is Brat,” and Swift’s endorsement as a “childless cat lady” in response to vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance’s sexist descriptions of women in the Democratic party—such stars only serve a specific political audience that the algorithm has already targeted. 

The candidates’ attempts at reaching new audiences via the web seem more radical than they are in practice, as both understand their target audiences. Trump continues to appeal to his audience of young men, while Harris targets issues pertinent to women. Trump appeared on “bro” podcasts like Andrew Schulz’s FLAGRANT, successfully relaying personal stories as a father to humanize his image. But perhaps what aids in this desired persona is the fact that he’s surrounded by terrible people who are completely unafraid of offending audiences, making himself look better. Schulz, infamous for the sexism and racism he claims to be comedy, made obnoxiously offensive jokes that Trump sidestepped. At one point, Schulz joked that “my wife can’t parallel park,” to which Trump responded “most people can’t,” an interesting shift in character for the former president considering his history of sexist remarks. 

 Harris, in her bold decision to be interviewed by Fox News, continued addressing issues important to potential female voters rather than males. The interviewer, Bret Baier, was blatantly combative: in the first 30 seconds, he interrupted her, and in the next two, she had to fight to actually answer one of the questions. Online discourse has sparked this unconstructive attitude towards political discussions, as the rapid media cycle rewards small, quick takedowns instead of prolonged attempts to solve an issue; Baier doesn’t understand that you can’t “win” an interview. Harris also made an appearance on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy, a podcast known for its sex positivity and A-list celebrity appearances. As the self-proclaimed “most-listened to podcast by women,” it’s no wonder Harris chose the platform. Not only could she strengthen her female audience, but she could speak on pressing Gen-Z issues, such as mental health, to a predominantly Gen-Z audience. The platforms in which the candidates present themselves are changing, but their target audiences remain the same. 

Harris is now in talks to appear on Joe Rogan’s The Joe Rogan Experience, a podcast synonymous with the manosphere— its audience is 71% men. In the end, whether or not this decision would really inch political stagnancy in her favor is questionable. Harris may not be able to crack the sphere of web users who’ve already been deeply influenced by their respective algorithms.