Social Media and Presidential Reputations

 "The Biden Campaign now wants to go Viral"

Today we take a look at Presidential Reputations through social media. The link above will take you to an article from Politico where they interviewed Rob Flaherty, Biden's deputy campaign manager. As we mentioned again and again, many people receive their news from social media. Social media is something that officials and potential candidates should not only get used to but also take advantage of. However, considering their age, some may find it difficult to navigate social media and form a positive presence. 

Rob Flaherty gives us some insight into the new goals of Joe Biden's media campaign. However, we are still focused on avoiding misinformation here so let's first look at this article and how they conducted their interview. Politico has been a source I have enjoyed and many of their articles come across as unbiased to me. Throughout this interview, we can see a healthy distribution of questions that are not intended to trick or twist a response from Flaherty. 

"How is this campaign voice different from what we’ve heard from the Biden campaign already?"

"Three years is a lifetime on the internet. How does the Biden campaign adapt digitally in 2024 versus 2020?"

These questions are neutral and simply seek informational responses. However, they also have a mix of critical questions that are still relevant. Being critical is something crucial to reporting as long as it is done in the right way. 

"There was an attempt, at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, to put out a lot of content. Whether it was the ill-fated podcast, or other ways to try and get Biden out there that didn’t come to fruition. Are these videos the most effective way [to pump out content]?" 

"According to public polling, Biden is struggling to connect with younger voters. Is Biden HQ a way to reach those voters?"

These questions expose some critiques from the past, a poor attempt at having a large media presence. I particularly like the questions about struggling to reach younger voters. The best reaction to Biden's presence online I have personally seen is when he portrays "dark Brandon" which is the alternate persona young social media users have named him. In reality, there is nothing very dark about it but it refers to times when President Biden is a bit more witty and aggressive in a humorous way. They reflect this with their goals as being "a little more aggressive, maybe a little snarkier, maybe a little funnier, but also factual. I personally think those all hit the mark to gain some presence on social media, especially for the younger generation. Ending with the idea of staying factual is also a huge win for them here!

The best question however from the entire interview in my opinion was: "How much of Biden HQ will be about policing disinformation [on social media]?"

This is not only relevant for our blog theme but it also shows Politico asking the right questions! Flaherty's response confirms that they are committed to fighting misinformation even if it has to be through a more aggressive approach. Although other factors may contribute to Biden's popularity online their media plans according to Flaherty are absolutely driving him in the right direction. 

Overall Politico posted a relevant, informational article here. I see little bias and if anything they perhaps could have asked one or two more critiquing questions.