Chicago:
Kamala Harris’ team rolled out the blue carpet for social media influencers at the Democratic National Convention this week, hoping they can help get voters to the polls and defeat Donald Trump.
Instagram and TikTok stars were feted with free drinks, yacht parties and full VIP access, among other special treatments not given to traditional press at the Chicago political convention, which at times felt more like a festival.
“People need to realize that many of these creatives have a larger audience than CNN, the New York Times, Univision, Telemundo or ABC,” says Benjamin Zamora, a former journalist who left the news media to work as an influencer on the internet, where he has 6.3 million followers across platforms.
He spoke on the ground floor of Chicago’s United Center, where rooms are reserved for treating influencers to wine and prime rib sandwiches.
While this was far from what was available to the mainstream press, for Zamora the different treatment makes sense.
“The Democratic Convention views content creators as allies. The press does not,” he said.
The accreditation of more than 200 influential people is a new development at this party convention and part of a strategy to expand Harris’ voter base.
This treatment of influencers contradicts the fact that Harris has not given an interview or press conference to the mainstream press since President Joe Biden resigned and the party endorsed her nomination.
At least five influential figures made it onto the list of selected speakers at the congress, including Carlos Eduardo Espina of Uruguay, who took the podium on Wednesday.
“It’s really incredible that they gave us this chance,” he told AFP.
“We see Bill Clinton, Joe Biden and think, ‘Wow, we don’t deserve to be in the same place as them,'” he added.
“But we do. We have a lot to offer,” said the 25-year-old, who has more than 11 million followers on social media.
In the arena, influencers – with cameras, lights and microphones in hand – can move more freely than many press teams and have a reserved area on the blue carpet for interviews.
The area reserved for traditional media is located outside the stadium and has few amenities other than water, powerful air conditioning and Wi-Fi.
Everything for Harris
The work is different, explained 12-year-old influencer Knowa, who argued with Republican activists Charlie Kirk and Mike Lindell in a recent viral video.
Despite his young age, Knowa speaks with a confidence that many never achieve in their entire lives and with an undeniable charisma.
For Knowa, the DNC is not the biggest event of his short career, even though he sat there next to U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and former Georgia state Rep. Stacey Abrams.
“No, I would say the White House … that was pretty big too,” he said.
The young activist and social media star is fully committed to Harris and has already met her five times.
The young influencer is home-schooled and has few other hobbies; he devotes all his time to the cause.
“The first thing I do when I wake up is google Kamala Harris. That’s all,” he told AFP.
However, not all opinion leaders at the congress are focused on politics.
Beauty, entertainment, lifestyle – influencers from all areas adapt their brands to the convention.
Blair Imani, who has 642,000 followers on Instagram, promotes one-and-a-half minute videos on various topics on her channel “Smarter in Seconds.”
At the convention, Imani interviewed popular Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
“They gave us access and were so welcoming,” Imani said.
“I know they are providing hotel accommodations to some content creators because a lot of us are independent creators… They have done more than they needed to,” she said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
