Terminally Online Elections
Terminally Online Elections
The new face of political exclusion
“If you approach this society with the nuances of moral, aesthetic, or critical judgment, you will miss its originality,...”
― Jean Baudrillard, America
The presidential elections held in the United States are unlike any other. A low-stakes election in a popular and highly-contested American county can easily be compared to one with a similar level of enthusiasm, dedication, financial support and backing, and media involvement in a high-stakes national election in Europe.
However, there are other aspects of American elections besides the level of mobilization required. The power of online discourse is steadily adding another dimension and layer to why U.S. elections are unique, even though the focus for most analysts is mainly on the ideological forces, religious movements, and societal needs that affect constituents.
It would be more useful to categorize online discourse not just as a dimension or driver but also as a structural factor that is now molding elections. Online platforms, especially X, play an immense role in promoting, engaging, and shaping language around most political topics. This is something that sometimes Americans themselves, particularly political analysts and journalists, are entirely oblivious to and that outsiders find difficult to understand.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the person without an X (Twitter) account, who after reading the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal does not check what is trending on X has simply no idea what is going on in the world.
Not because X as a platform has a sophisticated algorithm compared to Instagram or Facebook, but because it functions as a compass that may indicate what is important at a given time, what the consensus is, and who the opponents of a certain policy are.
But, not understanding “what is happening” is now only part of the problem, not understanding “how people think” has severe implications, not just for businesses but also for politicians.
When examining the contemporary American mind, it is easy to identify a clear generational divide: while the generations from the 1950s through the late 1990s were influenced by TV shows, comedic advertisements, and television, the generations from the 1990s onward are influenced by Internet bloggers, Netflix series, curated movies, and cycles of internet trends. At this point, it is clear that allusions to internet culture have supplanted those to traditional pop culture.
It is worth looking at these numbers from Demand Sage statistics to get a better sense of how important X has become, especially for the youth:
X had 619 million monthly active users as of April 2024.
Most of X’s audience (38.5%) belongs to the 25 to 34 age group.
With 105.42 million users, the United States has the highest number of X users.
An X user in the United States spends an average of 34 minutes and 6 seconds daily on the platform.
While most social media users are on Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms, those who use X are much more politically motivated and engaged. It’s hard to demonstrate; it would be interesting to see any data on it, but the fact that it is a platform where people gain engagement by exposing their political loyalties and ideas indicates why it is the politicians’ favorite platform.
Geopolitical and political analysts do their best to explain and understand where we are heading, what the challenges are, and how to surmount them, but unless they take the time to dive deep into the abysses of X, their predictions or analyses are likely somewhat flawed. Taking into account the terminally online human factor matters. A lot. Especially when it comes to U.S. foreign policy.
When, J.D. Vance, Donald Trump's vice-presidential running mate on the Republican ticket talks about “ childless cat ladies,” he is more referring to an internet meme than to an empirically and universally recognized phenomenon. But, of course, one should spend more than an hour every day on X “to get it.” When Kamala Harris for President campaign gets coded as a “brat,” unless one is in touch with what happens on X and which songs are trending on Tiktok, it’s difficult “to get it.”
At first, online jokes, memes, and internet jargon were reserved for the few who would wander from one forum to another, what X (Twitter’s old version as well) succeeded in doing is to open it up to the whole world.
The veil has been lifted, and those who cannot catch up will stay in the dark. This is the new face of political exclusion: the inability to be terminally online.
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Note: If I had the honor of teaching a class on the United States someday, I would suggest texts from Baudrillard’s book on America. A lot of it is funny to read, but most of it is true as well. He gives a glimpse into how the people who watch too much Television function. Highly recommend reading.