Gone are the days of talk shows and newspaper messages from our nation’s leaders, now they are looking for likes and shares.
Social media has become a widely used platform for everyone, including politicians. Historically politicians’ social media has remained polished and stuck to neutral political messaging.
An introduction to informal communication from US politicians came in 1933 from President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s fireside chats. When Roosevelt would broadcast messages over radio for the nation to listen to, according to a document by the Library of Congress.
Former President Joe Biden keeps a clean social media.
His Instagram account is composed of family photos or collaboration photos with neutral political messaging.
Such as a September 2025 Instagram post with the former president taking a selfie with several workers in yellow vests to support workers during Labor Day. This reflects the older demographic of politicians. They aren’t usually up to date with trends.
I have no problems with officials showing their personality in posts, but they should adhere to professionalism.
However, some have recognized the potential of captivating posts and attempt to use newer social media platforms to appeal to a younger demographic.
TikTok is known for its short-form videos and endless scroll feature, according to an article by Investopedia.
It’s not often you see someone over 50 on TikTok, but that is starting to change.
Pinned on California Governor Gavin Newsom’s official TikTok account is an edited video of a World Wrestling Entertainment wrestling match with him and other democratic officials faces edited onto the bodies of wrestlers, knocking out President Donald J. Trump and other Republican politicians.
My initial reaction was to laugh, but then I realized this is the same governor who decides on laws and policies that affect me.
I think user snorkelfloozy said it best in the comments, “my kids are gonna have to do research papers on this shit.”
There’s no harm in a quick laugh from posts like Newsom’s, but with the power to create policies that impact citizens’ livelihood, politicians should be held to a high standard.
President Trump, despite his status, has also diverged from professional media regulations.
In February 2025, Trump posted an AI-generated video of his imagined future of Gaza, featuring a massive golden “Trump Gaza” tower, Elon Musk eating bread and cheese and Trump belly dancing.
The generated video ends with Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sipping drinks by a pool.
The video portrays Palestine as a future tourist destination.
A place where, as of January 27, over 70,000 people have died since October 2023, according to an article by Al Jazeera.
While Newsom’s video is immature, Trump’s is dystopian and tone deaf.
I enjoy video edits, especially National Basketball Association edits, but I’m conflicted about my representatives entering this creative space.
As the face of our state and the nation, I don’t think social media is the right place for petty arguments.
I understand the politicians’ media strategists attempting to do marketing that sticks, but the current method reminds me of the classic movie trope of an old man with a backward baseball hat trying to fit in at a college party.
It’s likely they’re hoping memeification will work in their favor.
Memeification is when an event, image or person becomes a meme, a joke that spreads quickly and is referenced often by the younger generation, according to the Cambridge dictionary.
Now we have AI-generated videos by the president, and it reminds me of when 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton delivered this fateful line at a rally.
“I don’t know who invented Pokémon Go, but I’m trying to figure out how we get them to Pokémon Go to the polls.”
