Biden campaign uses teens Instagram account for organizing online

The Joe Biden campaign takes over a popular Instagram account from a teen supporter, who has built a huge following during their summer vacation. The @VoteJoe account, formerly a fan account, will now serve as the focal point of the campaign on Instagram, complementing Biden’s personal account.

The account started as @TeamJoeBiden and was launched earlier this year by a 15-year-old supporter from California. The young supporter spent their summer creating content for the account, which quickly grew to more than 85,000 followers. The campaign contacted the account owner earlier this year ask if they could buy it and convert it as an official campaign channel. Now, the former account owner will volunteer for the campaign and continue to create after-school content alongside Biden’s social media and audience development team.

The @ VoteJoe account now has more than 93,000 followers as of publication.

Before joining the campaign, the account posted largely quasi-official content, such as clips from Billie Eilish’s DNC performance and information-based Instagram feed galleries that could easily be mistaken for official campaign posts. Now the campaign says it plans to use the account to boost user-generated content from Biden supporters, be it videos or screenshots of tweets. The campaign also plans Instagram Stories featuring the PowerPoint style activism that has become popular on Instagram in recent months.

“What we’ve seen blowing up in places inside and outside politics is a focus on shareable content,” said Sarah J. Galvez, director of social and audience development for the Biden campaign. The edge. “Prior to this, you had these conversations face to face with your friends, your colleagues and your family. But as a result of COVID, we are conducting these political conversations online. “

This isn’t the first time a campaign has leveraged organic online support. Progressives like Bernie Sanders and Senator Ed Markey launched TikTok accounts earlier this year that allowed supporters to submit videos to post on the official channel. Employees of the Markey campaign regularly interacted with their supporters and the memes they created during his first run against Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-MA) in 2020.

Over the past week, the Biden campaign has stepped up its online organization efforts. Last Tuesday, the campaign announced that it was launching official designs in Animal Crossing: New Horizons for voters who want to place virtual garden signs in front of their island homes to show their support. The campaign also partnered with the renowned video platform Cameo as part of the wider online fundraiser. In July, the Biden team teamed up with Hollywood celebrities for official Instagram Live chats with campaign officials and supporters, according to Axios.