Media Influence on Voting Behavior and Political Opinion

  The game has changed in how the public consumes political media. In 2015, the oldest members of Gen Z turned 18-years-old, meaning they were now legally allowed to vote in the United States. This meant part of their demographic voted in their first presidential election the following year. As more members of this generation reach voting age, the media grows up with them, as does its influence. In 2024, 47% of Gen Z voted on Election Day, compared to 39% in 2016 (Circle, 2025). Gen Z’s political influence, like other generations, comes from preexisting conditions, such as family influence and religious beliefs. But they are the first generation to be regularly exposed to easily-accessible digital content. Political leaders know this and are largely moving their campaigns to digital platforms alongside the traditional television and radio broadcasts, therefore reaching a younger audience. This includes platforms like X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Reddit, and Snapchat, Facebook, Bluesky, Truth Social, etc. Even those who are not present on social media still feel like they have a presence due to the ripple effect of different creators spreading their personal beliefs, some with (credible and noncredible) research to support their claims.

In a survey of 38 people ages 18 to 29, 94.7% claim to use social media for at least one hour per day, with 76.3% averaging over two hours per day. Of that percentile, 44.7% claim to use Instagram the most while 36.8% mainly use TikTok (Google Forms, 2025). 

This is a stark contrast to the 80% of 30-49 year olds who mainly use Facebook. (Pew Research Center, 2025) According to a Pew Research study done in August of this year, 93% of Gen Z members get their news from digital devices, along with 47% who get theirs from television, 33% from radio, and 18% from printed newspapers or magazines (Pew Research Center, 2025). 

Campaign operatives Daniel Kreiss and Shannon C. McGregor argue that elections in the United States are based on appeals to “mega-identity” groups, and therefore the candidates must perform said identities (David and Taras, 2022). With the quick communication of social media, this is easier than ever. Lobbyists, governors, congresspeople, and now even the White House have TikTok and Instagram profiles, regularly creating content. A major factor of social media is its ability to inform its viewers on different topics in a matter of minutes or even seconds. When audiences are provided this short-form content, it provides a gateway for their beliefs to take a turn. This can happen in an instant or after extra research.

Rae M., a graduate student who wishes to not be fully named, discussed his experience with politics around the 2016 Presidential Election compared to now. He explained how his beliefs started out as conservative so he could be closer to his father, who still holds right-leaning beliefs to this day. “I actually ended up going to a Trump rally with my dad,” stated Rae, who was twelve at the time, “it was a bizarre experience, I remember it being so loud and fervorous, but I didn’t know why these people were so excited.” He recalled how after that experience, his father printed out stickers for his school binder that said “LOCK HILLARY UP!” Before entering the world of social media, Rae noticed a change in his father’s demeanor as he consumed more conservative media, such as Fox News. In 2020, Rae got on Instagram and was exposed to information surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement, which included him learning about red-lining, policing tactics, and systemic racism toward Black communities. “From there, I started following more leftist creators and started understanding why things are the way that they are,” he explained, “The facade fell apart for me, and once the base fell apart, then I began to understand the rhetoric that made me think these things were true in the first place.”

Jesse, a second-year OU music student, told a similar story, except he did not come from a conservative home. It was his exposure to history, military and gun culture on YouTube that originally led him to adopt conservative beliefs in middle school, though he stated he was “never fully conservative.” Jesse believes it was his algorithm based on creators he already followed that kept him from being exposed to left-leaning internet politics, a strong power of high-speed internet networking (Marret, 2020). When he got Instagram in high school, he became more exposed to left-leaning politics, but it was his community-college sociology course that he learned about different theories that were first perceived as left-wing. “I realized that was not rational,” he said, “I thought ‘if this is making sense, why am I fighting it if I don’t have any good reason to?’” After the 2024 Presidential Election, Jesse’s beliefs grew stronger, thus leading his online algorithm to show him more left-leaning content. 

While social media displays a tendency to skew audience beliefs, it also provides an outlet for the public to respond to the claims of political figures. For example, Facebook and Twitter allow for users to fact-check and highlight claims made during electoral debates, activity that influences journalists, voters and even the candidates themselves (Davis and Taras, 2022). But regardless, the lack of fact-checking and algorithmic repetitiveness by social media platforms to users leads to more virtual and real-life disputes (Marret, 2020). Social media has a major influence on political polarization, right down to specific cases involving scandals and how voters respond to them.