The Influence of Gen Z's Political Beliefs from Digital Creators

 Digital creators set out to become influential to the public, but did anyone ever expect them to influence our ballets? Over the past couple of decades, society has put more and more trust in popular creators known to be influencers. Whether it's for beauty tips or food hacks, Gen Z is following it all. As the majority of creators make it casual, some are strictly on the internet to influence people's minds on politics. Regardless of the party, they create media to “educate” people on current events. Many people have gotten popular from participating in political arguments, such as Dean Withers, Hasan Piker, and Charlie Kirk. Many individuals rely solely on these creators to give them information about our current politics. Putting full trust in them to be unbiased, truthful, and real. This blind following has invoked many issues with misinformation being spread on social media.  

“About one-in-five U.S. adults (21%) say they regularly get news from news influencers on social media, according to a survey of 10,658 Americans conducted in summer 2024. This is especially common among younger adults: 37% of those ages 18 to 29 say they regularly get news from influencers” (Stocking, 2024) 

Many young individuals tend to put more trust in digital creators than politicians or news outlets. The appeal to influencers is all about the authenticity and normalcy they bring. By talking about subjects such as political issues in a casual way, young people are more likely to listen and care about what they are saying. Gen Z has a value of transparency, which many feel they don't get with politicians. As digital creators show their personal lives and try to relate to their audience, people feel more connected, and therefore, a line of trust is built. Influencer Charlie Kirk used to discuss his family and children a lot, relating current issues to them and how they will affect their family. This brought a sense of trust to many individuals with families. Another huge one would be religion. When influencers are open about their religion, especially Christianity, and use that as a way to relate to political issues, it's very common for people of the same religion to follow them. A way for these creators to further their followers, they show parts of their lives that can be seen as “real” to others and strive for transparency. This transparency can be found in many digital creators, even if what they're being transparent about isn't truthful.  

“The researchers found that when social media influencers share distorted political messages, like misinformation and disinformation, to gain followers and increase their profits, political parties have to moderate their policy positions to attract median voters and win general elections.” (Tutella, 2023)  

Misinformation is spread every day by people claiming to know more than the average person about a certain subject. Many political influencers appeal to the public by claiming that they aren't putting their opinion out there but rather translating it to the public to make more sense. According to the Pew Research Center in America's News Influencers: “Among Americans who get news from news influencers on social media, most (65%) say news influencers have helped them better understand current events and civic issues”(Stocking, 2024). As these influencers gain traction by building a platform on explaining and “dumbing down” current events, misinformation can easily be spread by misinterpretation.  People in our day and age have a tendency to take what is put on social media as absolute truth. Especially when it's coming from a digital creator that they support and look up to. Although some do misinterpret, some also do manipulate their followers by purposefully misinterpreting to gain popularity for their party. Individuals such as Charlie Kirk, Ben Shapiro, and Joe Rogan have had some of the most influential political platforms for the republican party. All of which have been caught in some way, purposefully misinterpreted to go against the democratic party. In contrast, influencers such as Dean Withers and Hasan Piker have pushed select information to favor the democratic party with which they affiliate. As Gen Z blindly follows these influencers, this misinformation and lack of context for the information given, they can easily be misled into believing something that isn't true, altering their political beliefs. 

People have an unconscious tendency to listen to information from someone like-wise to them and take it more seriously. As these creators are posting content, their followers are hanging on to every word they say. If a straight white male is speaking on his beliefs, connecting them to his family, his childhood, and religion, it's very common for his followers to also be religious straight white men. People are more likely to listen to those who look like them and /or live similar lives. This puts these influencers up on a pedestal while also viewing them as transparent and “real,” which makes people more likely to believe what they say.