Biden Campaign Seeks ‘Meme Manager’ to Boost Engagement with Young Voters
File Photo: Reuters
As the November presidential elections approach, President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign has launched an innovative strategy to strengthen its appeal among younger voters: a job opening for a ‘Partner Manager, Content and Meme Pages.’ This unique position, advertised on the campaign’s website, aims to leverage the power of social media memes to engage Gen Z—a demographic that has proven elusive for Biden.
The role offers up to $85,000 annually and involves coordinating with top content creators and meme pages on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, which are popular among young users. Business Insider highlighted the campaign’s intention to harness these digital influencers to broaden awareness and support for Biden’s policies, especially those addressing climate change, abortion rights, and other critical issues that resonate with younger voters.
Clarke Humphrey, the Senior Adviser for Digital Persuasion on the Biden campaign, clarified to POLITICO that the meme manager’s duties will focus on forging partnerships rather than creating memes directly. The approach seeks to cultivate collaborations with creators who are willing to produce content that aligns with the campaign’s themes. This strategy was inspired by the success of the ‘Dark Brandon’ meme, which turned a derogatory tag from opponents into a viral sensation that promoted the president’s image.
MSNBC reports that Biden’s administration has consistently worked with digital content creators to disseminate information about his policy achievements and global affairs. This has included memorable moments such as Vice President Kamala Harris’s viral remark, “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” which transcended its original political context to gain broader popularity online.
Humphrey emphasized the campaign’s commitment to authenticity in these partnerships. “We cannot dictate what any of these people publish, and we would never want to do that,” he stated. Instead, the goal is to provide these influencers with resources and key information that they can use to craft content that is both engaging and informative.
The new job listing is part of a broader effort to replicate the successful engagement strategies from the 2020 campaign, where Biden managed to garner significant support from young voters through collaborations with well-known social media personalities.
However, creating viral content is inherently unpredictable, and the campaign acknowledges the challenges of ensuring authenticity, which is crucial in digital politics. “All we’re trying to do is give them information about what Joe Biden has done, and what his plan is for a second term,” Humphrey added, hoping that empowered creators can effectively integrate this information into their ongoing work. This innovative approach by the Biden campaign illustrates a strategic embrace of digital culture to influence electoral outcomes and connect with a demographic critical to their success.
