Meet Your Audience Where They Are: The Dissemination and Reception of Political Messaging Among Young Voters [Poster]

Ever-changing technologies, specifically communication technologies, continue to transform the nature of political campaigns. Research suggests that young voters are uninterested in politics and therefore more difficult to reach as a voting bloc in the United States electorate. However, the new and growing intersection of politics online and on social media, where young voters are, is transforming outreach and communication with this voting bloc. Nevertheless, reaching young voters can be difficult as there are millions of other messages competing against campaign messages. Through content analysis and interviews with campaign staff and young voters, this research analyzes which messages employed by campaigns are reaching young voters. Additionally, this research reflects on the influence of both positive and negative viral moments of candidates and their campaigns. This research seeks to provide substantive information for campaigns regarding how to allocate resources related to new and social media in order to engage young voters