With about a year to go until the 2016 presidential election, Democratic and Republican candidates are crisscrossing the nation in search of support. At the same time, the candidates are also battling each other online. Ad-tech platform Strike Social has compiled some data on the presidential candidates, and it has determined that Hillary Clinton has made the biggest push on YouTube–at least thus far.
A big theme on the Democratic side of the presidential race has Bernie Sanders’ populist rise, which has been fueled in part by his appeal to younger voters. He hasn’t, however, translated his success with young people into success on YouTube, where he has gained just 2.4 million views. That’s barely one-third of the 6.96 million views Clinton has gained on her videos.
An online video narrative more consistent with the current political situation is the fractured nature of the Republican Party on YouTube. While Republican candidates have uploaded close to 700 more videos than their Democratic counterparts, the two candidates with the most views are both Democrats–Clinton and Sanders. Donald Trump, for all his bravado, has managed just 1.6 million views on his campaign’s YouTube channel, and most of the other Republican candidates are behind him in that category.
Clinton’s YouTube advantage isn’t necessarily indicative of a stronger strategy, though her campaign has shown interest in the online video community. Instead, she’s benefited from the popularity of her campaign announcement video, which went viral to the tune of 4.8 million views. The truth is that very few 2016 presidential candidates have attempted to engage with viewers on YouTube in any meaningful way. The one exception is Ben Carson, who appealed to young voters with an interview directed specifically at teens.
President Obama showed us YouTube can be a potent political tool, which is why it is so odd that the 2016 candidates don’t seem to be using the video site much. Perhaps the upcoming debates–including October 13th’s Democratic tussle–will energize the political race on YouTube. Of course, if the candidates don’t provide any content, new viewers won’t show up, and in that case, YouTube will become a missed opportunity more than anything else.
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