Memes, Kamala Harris and Your Organization

For those who doubted that the U.S. election was energizing young voters, the last few weeks have been transformative since Kamala Harris stepped into the race, and social media has played a key role in the transition.

Something that’s fascinating about this change is what your organization or cause can learn from it. And no, we didn't all learn that we should start calling our organizations "brat” and using a lot of green and black in our memes for the next few weeks! But, this is a sign that now’s the time for your organization to consider who your social audience is, where they’re hanging out, what language they’re using, and be strategic about meeting them there.

So why is there so much excitement around Kamala’s social media presence? Well, her team has tapped into social trends so quickly, securing the endorsement of Charli XCX to use the colors from her “brat” album on their new “Kamala HQ” account on X. The idea of being a brat - not necessarily conforming to society’s expectations of what you “should” behave like and being *a vibe* - engages young people around the concept of a presidential candidate who doesn’t look like an old white guy. The British Labour party were quick with the memes on their route to recent victory, but Kamala’s team of social media people have moved so fast and it’s engaged Gen Z at a ridiculous pace. I’ve never seen a social media team turn content around so quickly!

Still, that doesn’t mean they haven’t thought it all through. You’re talking about a team of dozens of experienced social media campaigners who have analyzed the risks and potential rewards of doing what they’re doing and calculating that it’s all worth it. While some see memes as millennial, they are a great way to break down complicated topics and make them more relatable in popular culture. And, they’re the essence of political strategy, albeit for those of us who didn’t necessarily go to Yale to study it.

Kamala’s rapid response on social media has been so fast that people are joking about the account being run by a Gen Z “twink”, tagging in her team by “paging Kamala’s twink” on relevant content. Her TikTok has amassed 3.8 million followers. She’s visited the Werk Room at RuPaul’s Drag Race. Gen Z’ers are taking the lead and generating their own memes, too. And they can volunteer to “create content on what’s at stake in this campaign.

I’m interested, too, in Kamala’s framing of the election around “looking forward” and being “the future” in comparison to Joe Biden’s insistence on “democracy” as the key theme. With her age an advantage against Trump, she’s also cleverly phrased the campaign in terms of “not going back”.

This is impressive. By taking part in current trends and using messaging that resonates with undecided voters, Harris demonstrates that she can authentically connect with young voters. Gen Z and Millennials are set to be the biggest voting bloc in America soon, and campaigns that can connect with that generation are going to be successful.

At Catnip, many of our nonprofit clients are wary of engaging in social media content around elections. If you have a nonprofit tax status, then there are strict lines around engaging in political campaigns because your donations are tax deductible. But the lessons of Kamala’s campaign still apply: know who your audience is, where they are, what they’re consuming, and speak the same language. If you are looking at sharing social content around the election, it’s worth working with an expert to make sure you stay on the right side of the lines. 

But there are really good opportunities here. Young voters have said that themes like healthcare, abortion, mental health, climate change, education, and mass shootings, matter to them a great deal, and that they can be decisive when it comes to turning out to vote as well as support causes. If you’re working in any of those areas and you don’t have a rigorous social media strategy to engage young people, then now is as good a time to start.