It’s not a joke—a job posting says that President Joe Biden’s campaign for reelection needs someone to handle jokes. It is said that the new “Partner Manager, Content and Meme Pages” will “start and manage day-to-day operations in engaging the internet’s top content and meme pages.” It can pay up to $85,000.
Yes, it’s silly to make a living managing memes. But these days, planning online is just as useful as getting to know people in person at a farmers market. If a politician wants to meet voters where they are, they need to be online. If something goes viral, it can connect millions of people. Biden’s team has a TikTok account because of this, even though the president signed a bill that could ban the app.
TechCrunch talked to creator and digital communications strategist Annie Wu Henry in February. “I do think that we can and should add relevant, trendy, and fun moments into how we communicate, especially on digital platforms,” she said. “But even if it’s just a meme, we need to keep being strategic, deliberate, and aware while we do that.”
Memes have been used by the Biden team to get people to vote even before they hired this person. The alt-right’s ideas about the president are where the Dark Brandon meme comes from. It’s been used so much on Biden’s campaign accounts that it feels old. But everyone seems to love it: Axios says that Dark Brandon merchandise brought in 54% of the campaign store’s overall sales in August.
Memes are also being used by former president Donald Trump to promote his run for the White House again. As expected, Trump’s photo went viral, and his campaign started selling T-shirts, mugs, and beer koozies with the picture on them right away. The items have the words “Never Surrender” printed on them.
Biden isn’t the first politician to realize that what people do online can change the outcome of an election. Social media has been useful for political activists for a long time, but the pandemic sped up the adoption of digital strategies by campaigns. Gen Z posters all over the country created “the Markeyverse” to support Senator Ed Markey (D-MA)’s reelection in 2020. This was an organic online effort to make sure that a senator who cares about the environment kept his seat. At the same time, the anonymous online character Organizer Memes has been teaching political groups like the South Carolina Young Democrats how to use memes. People in these trainings make memes together, talk about what makes a good meme, and learn how to use pre-made meme templates to respond to breaking political news in real time.
Also Read: In May, “vote Trump” Spam Hit Bluesky. It Came From a Decentralized Competitor Called Nostr
Since the Biden administration could ban TikTok, young people may not believe the campaign’s use of jokes to win them over. But if nothing else, using social media shows that a campaign is trying to connect with younger people.
What do you say about this story? Visit Parhlo World For more.
