The Art of Voting Posts
During what may be one of the most decisive and logistically-confusing elections in the history of the United States, an increasing number of celebrities have spoken up on politics, either for the first time or far more urgently than in previous years.
Now that early voting is underway in most states, it is a good time to reflect on the efforts put on by celebrities to get people to the polls, and as we’ve come to find out, their social media posts are often an extension of their celebrity personas.
First on the list is Taylor Swift, who for a long time stayed silent on political matters. While she posted a photo heading to the polls in 2016, she stayed quiet on what candidate was getting her vote. This led to far-right groups taking her silence as support, and fans were dismayed at her lack of transparency. In recent years, however, she has become increasingly vocal about her support for the Democratic Party (particularly in her voting state of Tennessee). Her voting-themed-baking has helped her young fans become more politically active but also making sure her Republican fanbase rethink supporting her.
Another high-profile celebrity to break their silence this year was Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson. Like Taylor Swift, his endorsement of Joe Biden caused quite the stir within his fanbase, but according to his most recent Instagram post, the loss of some fans has not made much of a dent. It should be noted that his choice of a very, very tight shirt helped fuel internet chatter that was just as loud as anything political.
While the Rock’s tight shirt was accidentally a topic of conversation, some other celebrities have taken a more direct route to get people’s attention.
Kylie Jenner posed in a floral bikini to ask her followers if they are registered to vote. While some saw this as a classic a Jenner/Kardashian move, this is not really that different from other posts from above—and she has a vote.org link in her bio. What else could we ask for?
Other celebrities’ attempts to strip down have not gone down as smoothly, though. Sarah Silverman, Tiffany Haddish, Chris Rock, and other celebs tried to shine a light on Pennsylvania’s “naked ballot” guidelines. They certainly brought attention to the issue, but mainly a lot of people saw this move as self-absorbed and unnecessary. It joins the growing list of celebrity quarantine-blunders.
The infamous Tana Mongeau stayed on-brand by suggesting that she would send a nude photograph to some of her followers that proved they voted for Biden. This sounds like a fair exchange for her democratic fans, except that it may be election fraud. Do learn from Tana—it is illegal to offer something in exchange for a vote.
On the other hand, it is completely fine to offer a reward for people to register to vote, and David Dobrik did just that! In what may be one of the most effective voter registration events, Dobrik was able to get over 120,000 people to register to vote, according to data collected by HeadCount.org There’s no doubt David knows his audience, and if he keeps it up, Gen Z will be one of the key players this election.
There is an ever-increasing sense that people are not surprised by celebrities supporting a democratic candidate (if anything, a pro-Republican endorsement gets more chatter). Endorsements from Beyoncé or Oprah, while still valued, seem to do little to move the general population (take the 2016 presidential election as an example) towards a candidate. Rather than the actual politics of a post, what seems to matter is whether an artist is doing it at all. There is a lot of pressure from fanbases for their favorite artist to say something. Taylor Swift or the Rock speaking up about politics was less so about their candidate choice, but more so the fact that people could no longer project their own beliefs onto their silence.
It also seems that celebrities are learning that regardless of who they endorse, they are going to receive some backlash, so it is best to just be open about who they are passionate about. If they wish to remain neutral, they can simply encourage more people to get out and (register to) vote. Mobilizing their fan base to be engaged in politics in whatever way possible is ultimately the goal, as the more people involved in the electoral process, the closer the election results may be towards the will of the people—in theory at least.
Beyoncé performing at Hillary Clinton’s 2016 Get Out The Vote Event
Featured image composed of images of David Dobrik, Taylor Swift, Tana Mongeau, and Dwayne Johnson.
