America’s Influencer Election
And an introduction to the Noise Level Creator Index
In our first few issues, we broke down the “fifth estate” introducing how influencers, content creators, and “independent journalists” have come to dominate the digital noise with unparalleled control over the conversations we have, from the headlines that appear in mainstream media, to the products we buy and trips we take.
In a new era, where trust in traditional media is at an all time low, it should come as no surprise, that creators and influencers (like the above) are playing an outsized role throughout this election cycle, including the hundreds of credentialed creators taking over the conventions, and an estimated 1 in 4 creators that have been approached by political campaigns ahead of November. Users crave the relatability as well as the parasocial relationships and the sense of trust these personalities provide—this experience now belongs to all of us because we’re consuming it through this person I “know”.
So What’s Going On Here?
To help us all navigate this new landscape, we're piloting a Creator Index. Our goals with this new index are to help track and understand how popular creators across the political spectrum impact the national conversation; highlight trending topics and messaging shifts; and, analyze the impact of creator content on public opinion when it comes to civic and political discourse.
We'll provide regular observations about the Creator Index, helping you stay informed about the digital forces shaping the online conversation, particularly when it comes to our civic lives.
To build the index, we have selected a set of influencers generally associated with conservative values, and another that are considered progressively-aligned. We used recent coverage from Wired, NYT, Fast Company, Axios and Politico to help us identify a cross section in both camps. We have started by selecting a subset of creators who are more associated with civic and current event news initially; thus, we opted to exclude outsized accounts like the Paul brothers and X’s own Elon Musk.
Our selection will grow and evolve over time, so for now here’s our starting lineup:
And, If there’s anyone you’d love to see added, hit reply to this email and let us know!
Here are a few initial observations as we begin to track the Creator Index:
While these initial conservatives have higher overall counts, don’t dig too much into that right now. We think that, over time, what will be more interesting is the growth rates in followers. And, by that metric, Progressives are seeing meteoric growth, likely thanks to their positioning last week at the DNC.
As you may have noticed, these conservative voices tend to have a more traditional media-inspired personality—they are also journalists, podcasters, etc., and therefore have spent more time cultivating cross-platform presences, which may explain why they had such large Instagram followings comparatively. For now, we are sticking to Instagram as our primary proxy. As a platform, it seems to have the broadest appeal with both our parents, and our gen-alpha cousins all regularly using it. If you’re curious to dig into other platforms, our friends at #FYP are going DEEP on TikTok and the election.
Interestingly, the one person who gained the highest number of followers this week was Matt Walsh. And, the content that provoked it: he “posed as a Kamala supporter” to try and trick Democrats into watching a trailer for his forthcoming documentary Am I Racist?. The goal, I think, was to enrage and shock Democrats, but it seems that the only media outlets covering the story are his own.
And, If you want to know, our favorite Instagram of the week featured one of America’s favorite political families, as daughter Claudia Conway hosted her (divorced) parents George and KellyAnne in a live debate during the DNC. Enjoy.\
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