conservatives are winning online.

how to use social media to get people to believe in the Democratic Party again.

It should come as no surprise that Democrats have no idea how to use social media.

Despite the Democratic Party’s efforts to ride the brat summer wave to connect with Gen-Z voters… Democrats don’t know how to reach voters online.

It’s not that the social media teams behind Democratic candidates don’t know how to edit an Instagram reel or create podcasts… but their social media strategy is not reaching voters in the same capacity that conservative-leaning media has been reaching voters.

Conservatives are winning online.

The data which inspired this post comes from a study conducted by Media Matters called “The right dominates the online media ecosystem, seeping into sports, comedy, and other supposedly nonpolitical spaces.” (Media Matters)

This infographic from Media Matters displays which online shows have the most listeners — the bigger the dot, the more listeners the show has. Blue is for left-leaning shows, red is for right-leaning shows.

At first glance, it’s quite easy to tell that conservatives are very popular online. When you look into each show that’s mentioned, you’ll see that a lot of these shows are not inherently political… the most successful shows are lifestyle-ish programs in which the hosts share their ideological views organically throughout episodes.

9 out of the 10 of the most popular shows online across all platforms are right-leaning — with name like Joe Rogan, Theo Van, etc. The most popular left-leaning show is Trevor Noah… I do not personally know a single person who is tuned into his programming in 2025.

We exist in our own echo chambers.

After the 2024 election, everyone was discussing how right-wing podcast bros had helped Trump win over male voters. In addition to male voters, Trump won over Gen-Z men.

Some of this information may come as a shock to you, as I’m guessing you don’t see conservative influencers on your TikTok FYP.

This is the unique problem in our digital age. We exist in our own echo chambers online — our social media algorithms cater content to our beliefs and preferences. Your FYP is different than mine, which on its face doesn’t seem alarming or scary.

But Kate… it’s great! We all have unique interests and topics we care about that are reflected across social media platforms.

The sinister problem with social media algorithms as they relate to global news and politics is that you and I do not live in the same world anymore. You may never see a video talking about the students being detained by ICE across America while I never see a video talking about Trump’s efforts to dismantle the Department of Education.

Even amongst people who share similar political views, we are all seeing different news online. Now imagine how different the FYP looks for someone across the political spectrum from you. Scary, right? We all are in our own worlds and do not share a common baseline of reality in 2025.

The data from Media Matters emphasizes that even though you may not know a single person that tunes into Tucker Carlson or Ben Shapiro… they are significantly more popular than anyone on the left.

Social media is not going away. What are Democrats to do?

I listened to this episode of The Ezra Klein Show Podcast called “Democrats Need to Face Why Trump Won” in which they discussed data that explains the 2024 election results.

One piece of data that stuck out to me while listening was that people are getting their news from TikTok at higher rates that ever, especially young voters.

During the 2024 election, Democrats underestimated how the online media environment has shifted to favor right-wing voices.

Even though Democrats currently sit in the minority without power in any branch of government, the Party can be using social media at this time while Trump is in office.

There’s no need to wait until the next election cycle – build back trust now. Provide a relevant, coherent message on social media platforms.

If I was a Democratic Party consultant, I would tell the party leadership to focus on these three things:

1. Make sure that Americans know you are appalled by the atrocities being committed by the Trump administration. Denounce these laws. I generally think the party is doing an okay job at this. (It’s low-hanging fruit.)

2. Focus your energy on communities that are hurt by the Trump Administration — families facing deportation, students detained by ICE for expressing their support of Palestine, low-income Americans impacted by the price of eggs skyrocketing, etc.

3. Most importantly, inform voters you have solutions for the problems we face under Trump. This is the biggest issue that Democrats are struggling with… Democrats have no real message right now.

Now back to building a digital strategy on social media… even if Democrats are doing these three things… are Democrats even showing up on algorithms? How do you reach voters in different ecosystems online?

One of the big questions that Democrats need to answer in the next 4 years is how will they rebuild online — how will they reach voters on social media that have lost trust in the Democratic party.

How to build a left-leaning media environment.

I don’t have the answers to how to combat the massive conservative media ecosystem, but here are observations I’ve made on social media algorithms, Gen-Z voters, and why conservatives succeed online.

1. Build a party with clear policies, positions, and messaging.

Nobody knows what Democrats stand for. As dumb as Trump is, his campaign strategy works because he uses very simple language. Democrats read off of PowerPoints from McKinsey consultants and speak like policy wonks. Everyday people cannot relate to their message.

You may personally think that Democrats had a great social media campaign in 2024, but they lost. Their message clearly didn’t get to voters in battleground states on social media algorithms… or the message didn’t resonate.

People do not trust Democrats. As emphasized in this data from Blue Rose, voters trust Republicans more than Democrats.

I wholeheartedly believe the Republican Party lies to its voters and is full of shit. Their messaging works, somehow, and Americans trust Republicans in 2025.

For Democrats to rebuild that lost trust, you need to speak to people’s concerns and stand for a progressive agenda. Do not move to the center. Do not moderate. Do not become light Republicans.

I’m sick of the party’s leadership selling out to corporate donors and watering down what it stands for… voters can see through it.

I won’t go more into depth on this again, but Bernie Sanders’ message is selling out arenas of potential voters in the Midwest. He is extremely popular right now, unlike anyone from the corporate-backed party leadership.

2. Once you have clear policies and positions, do not focus on political online shows — spread the message through lifestyle creators and shows.

People don’t want to listen to politicians online, go to real people.

A lot of the success of the conservative echo chamber online is that it utilizes normal people — not politicians — to spread the ideology. Joe Rogan and Theo Von have the largest audiences online. No one would categorize them as political podcasts, but rather right-leaning shows.

“There has been a growing sense among Americans who aren’t strictly confined by ideology—or aren’t even all that politically activated—that the mainstream corporate-liberal gestalt presents a world where your thoughts and interactions must be exclusively filtered through the prism of identity and social justice. These podcasts, then, do a good job at flavoring boilerplate civic inertness with a tinge of MAGA conservatism. So far, liberals haven’t been able to crack that code. Consider Pod Save America, which has a content portfolio thoroughly defined by anxiety about Trump, the Electoral College, and the fading vitality of democracy itself. There is little room for digression or levity. It is all policy, all the time, for a country that has grown exhausted by the discourse. The show’s reach is limited to the only audience it could ever hope to capture: wonks who look, talk, and think like the hosts themselves.” (Slate)

As mentioned in the Media Matters study, conservatives online succeed because they invest in online spaces that aren’t inherently political.

80 of the right-leaning online shows (42%) are categorized as comedy, entertainment, sports, or other supposedly nonpolitical topics.

Once you have defined your values and message as a political party, look to creators online who align with your views.

There are so many talented Gen-Z creators on TikTok with huge audiences that aren’t necessarily “breaking news” creators who could help bolster support for the Democratic Party.

One example I think about as an opportunity for Democrats to attack is the rise of “tradwife” content. Plenty of conservative tradwives have gained huge followings while seamlessly upholding a patriarchal agenda online through their content.

Similarly, we have seen lots of young women fall down the wellness to MAGA pipeline as health content online has become infused with the logic of personal responsibility. (see my TikTok here for more on this subject.)

You know what would help mothers and women in America?

Paid leave. Access to reproductive healthcare, in addition to universal healthcare. Passing comprehensive gun laws so mothers don’t have to fear their kids being a victim in school shooting.

There is so much opportunity to make progressive policies popular online. There are so many lifestyle creators who could relate these policies to their lives and share on social media.

Social media is not going away. Invest in online infrastructure.

Democrats could have the perfect message to share in an IG reels, yes, but social media algorithms are a huge problem that I think can be underestimated.

How will the Democratic Party get their message to voters who scroll past anything that appears as political? Enter the lifestyle space.

That’s all of my thoughts for today, thank you for reading. More posts on US government + politics to come!