Outrunning the Algorithm

Since the advent of televised presidential debates, branding has become increasingly more vital to launching a major political campaign in the United States. In the era of social media, a candidate's image and their ability to capture the attention and imagination of the public has become the deciding factor in major elections. Nearly 40 percent of Americans get their news from Facebook and Youtube, and 53 percent of Americans get at least some of their news from social media.(1) The Democratic Party was largely unable to keep up with this shift, and as a result lost major political ground from 2016 onward. Crucially, their tone deaf tactics were unable to capture the growing number of people who were dissatisfied with the greater political system in 2024. For many, Zohran Mamdani’s political brand represents a clear shift in momentum towards the left, but can he overcome the political resistance from within the Democratic party? More broadly, is utilizing social media as a launching pad for leftists political candidates sustainable, or will the movement be broken up by the powers that be before it can reach terminal velocity? 

The impact of mass media on politics cannot be understated. In its original inception, the American political system was designed to exclude all those except white, landowning men–the group deemed educated and responsible enough to vote. The political process was thought of as an exclusive arena that most were unable to grasp. There was a fear of the tyranny of the majority destroying the weak fabric of the nation. However, the political class of the United States slowly expanded to be more broadly inclusive. This shifted the way that they felt campaigns had to be run. No longer were candidates speaking only with what they considered their fellow aristocracy. They had to find ways to easily disseminate information to the public, such as through newspapers and pamphlets. Increasingly, the average voter was choosing which candidate to support through their public image. The turning point came in the 1960 Presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon, the first televised general election debate. Nixon, who refused makeup, was visibly injured and sweating under hot studio lights was romped by a ready-for-TV Kennedy in no small part due to Nixon's disheveled appearance. This was a deciding moment, where a politician's ability to play to the camera would decide their political fate. As the age of social media arose, the effect of a candidate's appearance and branding would become even more central in the minds of voters.

Although Obama pioneered the use of social media in presidential campaigns, Donald Trump took the tactic much further, using the internet to create a movement both astroturfed, and grassroots. He has become the figurehead of the most effective political brand in US history and used this to consolidate an incredible amount of political power. He rose to prominence through an unending torrent of (mis)information and then used that momentum to manufacture consent for his fascist regime. The Democratic party utterly failed to mount a digital response to Trump. Hillary’s 2016 campaign was notoriously cringy and embarrassing, especially compared to the affable Barack Obama or Trump’s unfiltered performances. Bernie Sanders was more effective, as he knew enough to give control of his online presence to much younger staffers, but when the Epstein class decided he needed to be sidelined, no amount of grassroots enthusiasm was enough. Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez and her class of progressive democrats were able to use the momentum Bernie created, along with the reaction to Trump’s authoritarianism, to establish some power in the legislature, but this did not materialize in a larger movement in the 2020 election. Biden edged out Trump mainly due to the latter’s abysmal approval ratings, but was so braindead that he could barely talk, let alone tweet. Kamala Harris tried to bury her history of  wrongful convictions as the Attorney General of California(2) behind a facade of social justice that immediately came off as phony. Her brand attempted to lure young, progressive voters with relatable social media posts, such as the infamous “Kamala is Brat” tweet from Charli XCX, as well as parroting watered down versions of common leftist talking points. It's also important to note that she followed this tactic to the exclusion of a broader bass who perhaps were not tapped into Brat Sumer. It was not until Zohran Mamdani upset Andrew Cuomo in the 2025 New York Democratic mayoral primary that a candidate on the left had used social media as a tool to disrupt mainstream political power in the United States. What’s more, he was not a democratic insider and was proudly socialist, even if he did walk back some of his more radical statements.(3) Although the broader political legacy of Zohran Mamdani is yet to be revealed, his campaign has already left a visible impact on political campaigns across the nation. His success has been a boon on Democratic Socialist candidates around the country. 

Strategically, the use of social media is something that Democratic Socialists need to continue perfecting in order to continue their success. However, it is important to note that unlike the performative online activism and awareness raising done by Democrats in 2020, Mamdani has backed up his online presence with material action in the real world. Without a basis of real-world activity, any campaign that runs the Mamdani playbook will struggle to find footing in an election. Additionally, Mamdani used the base he gathered online to mobilize a larger doorknocking campaign across New York City, which connected otherwise disparate parts of his base and extended his message past the bubble that he exists within online. The key to sustaining and legitimizing his image in the public eye now rests on his ability to affect change in New York. He has scored many wins early on that have endeared him to New Yorkers, taking major steps toward universal free childcare and eliminating the city’s spending deficit. However, just as in his campaign, he has backed down on the more radical stances, for example, leaving Jessica Tish as the police commissioner. Many of his largest plans have yet to come to fruition and will take much longer to implement. His ability to institute a rent freeze or pass his pied-à-terre tax on wealthy New York landowners will be critical in continuing the broader forward momentum of the movement. What we need to see is a successful implementation of these socialist ideas in order to give legitimacy to the movement at large. Hopefully, as other cities see the success of Mamdani, they will find the candidates in their city fighting for the same platform. Social media is, for now, the medium through which that can most quickly spread, but it is also how any failure of Mamdani’s or misinformation about the party will spread. It’s much too early to speculate on his legacy, but his first term as mayor will be key in a larger Democratic Socialist movement in 2028 and beyond. 

Another obstacle that the left in the US faces is the Democratic Party. There are two primary threats the Dems pose to a true socialist movement. The first is the party absorbing the style of Mamdani’s campaign without the substance. As feelers for 2028 candidates start going out, we need to be weary of any candidate put forth from the Democrats. We should be prepared to see a candidate who emulates the DemSoc style emerge, and we should treat them with extreme skepticism. Socialism is a materialist ideology, and anyone who claims socialist ideals but does not strike directly at the economic foundation of the United States is a political impostor.  The Democrats' major strength in previous elections has been capturing voters on social issues just to turn around and strengthen their commitment to transferring wealth to the 1 Percent. 

The other major threat comes from the extreme unpopularity of the Democrats and the left’s association with the party. Even as Trump’s approval rating plummets to record low levels, Americans are only begrudgingly willing to vote for Democrats.(4) Trump has also bound us to the Democrats, creating an image in the popular imagination of the right of a left wing that spans from Hillary to the farthest left communists. This association needs to be broken if a truly leftist candidate wants to challenge the Democrats on a national scale. Fundamentally, much of the MAGA cohort are working people who have made the same observations about the broken and corrupt political system in the US that we have. However, many who were attracted to an “America First” platform are only now realizing they aided in a slide toward hyper-nationalist fascism that doesn’t have their interests, or even the interests of humanity in mind. As long as the left is associated with the impotent Democratic party, it will be incredibly difficult to win over the growing number of disaffected Trump voters. 

Finally, the last question socialist candidates are facing is: is social media a fertile ground for launching new candidates? A materialist view of the internet should not take it as an ephemeral phenomenon that somehow exists outside the bounds of capital. Every Tweet, Truth and TikTok is routed from an ever-growing infrastructure of data centers. These centers use drinking water and fuel, polluting their environments. The rare earth minerals and precious metals contained within are wrought from a bloody exploitative mining process. The centers themselves are taking away water and driving up the cost of living even higher across the country. The platforms themselves are closely monitored and can be moderated to block any discussion of dissident political ideas. Especially when combined with the rise of AI Slop dominating most of the internet, people have started to sour on the idea of a techno-utopia coming to save us. We should take inspiration from the grassroots campaigns to stop the development of data centers in rural areas of the US as an example for future campaigns. These groups are fighting a material battle instead of a symbolic one and using their already existing communities to rally around a specific issue. What we need now is a strong, diverse group of young leaders who can rally these causes around a single greater purpose: disrupting capitalism.

Footnotes

1.  Atske, “Social Media and News Fact Sheet.”

2. Kranish, “Crime Lab Scandal Rocked Kamala Harris’s Term as San Francisco District Attorney”

3.  POLITICO, “Mamdani Backs Away from ‘out of Step’ Defund the Police Posts.”

4. “Voters Give Democrats In Congress A Record Low Job Approval But Still Might Vote For Them In 2026, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Majority Think Trump’s Use Of Presidential Power Goes Too Far | Quinnipiac University Poll.”

Can a Socialist Movement Be Built Through Social Media?

by Olive Jones