From Barack Obama’s deft use of social media to capture the White House in 2008 through to Donald Trump’s win in 2016 and Jeremy Corbyn’s “youthquake” campaign of 2017, Facebook has been the crucial battleground in 21st Century ballots each side of the Atlantic.Yet Mark Zuckerberg’s platform will have diminishing significance for political strategists in future if young voters continue to spend their time elsewhere.“Facebook is declining as a platform that young people feel an affinity with,” says Matthew McGregor, a digital media expert who worked with Obama’s team on that historic victory. “It’s the place where you post the nice staid photo from your graduation day so your parents and grandparents see it but it’s not where you have a laugh and interact with your friends. Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok are where young people spend most of their time.”Only a handful of Westminster MPs have mastered these newer platforms. McGregor cites Dehenna Davison, the 28-year-old Conservative MP for Bishop Auckland, and Sarah Owen, 38, Labour MP for Luton North, as authentic communicators on such media.This is where youth-focused publishers such as JOE, which specialises in posting direct to social media, can have an impact on young voters.JOE showed it…
Read More










