Social media influencers descend on the White House, where Biden calls them the new 'source of news'

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: AP

Updated 5:19 PM EDT, August 14, 2024


WASHINGTON (AP) — Social media influencers got the royal treatment at the White House on Wednesday as President Joe Biden gave a nod to their ability to hold sway with millions of loyal followers.

The White House played host to a group of more than 100 influencers, also known as content creators, across a range of media platforms — from chefs and makeup artists to fitness gurus and medical students — to talk about issues including mental health, pay equity and the abuse of artificial intelligence.

Biden stopped by to tell the influencers gathered in the Indian Treaty Room in the White House complex: “The fact is, you are the future.” “You’re the source of the news,” he said. “You are the new possibilities. You are the new breakthrough in how we communicate.”Biden added, to laughter: “And that’s why I invited you to the White House, because I’m looking for a job.”

Those in attendance included makeup artist Jackie Aina, chef My Nguyen and medical student Joel Bervell. Together, the influencers count millions of followers. In showcasing the importance and heft of the content creator economy — valued at roughly $250 billion worldwide — the White House is also recognizing the youth vote that will be a crucial constituency for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump in the November election.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/biden-tiktok-influencers-white-house-6faa12d3e466124991f72fb547f4844c

[SunSeeker]

1. Sadly, this is how my 20 year old son and all his friends get their news.

We must acknowledge this reality and try to work with it as best we can, for the benefit of all concerned.

[not fooled]

2. "Sadly" is correct

What a shame. Your take is sad but true.

[SunSeeker]

4. On the bright side, he did say he was going to vote for Kamala. nt

[LisaM]

7. It's so sickening.

I cannot stand, simply cannot stand TikTok, and I can't believe anyone would trust it for how to trim a hangnail, much less news.

[msongs]

5. gossip is what makes america great...again lol nt

[Silver Gaia]

6. This is what younger college students have been telling me

for over a year now. At first, I was appalled, but I quickly came to realize that there's no stopping this. So, rather than discourage it, I remain neutral, and instead focus on teaching them how to do this wisely: how to fact check, how to check sources of their sources, and so on. They are actually appreciative of that and eager to gain those skills. It's a whole new world out there, and I appreciate Biden taking this step. It's important.

[Think. Again.]

8. If the standard mainstream media outlets start being a source...

...of clear, unbiased, factual information without trying to be flashy, they would hold onto their position as the go-to source for news while all these other entertainment sources become background noise and brain candy.

[Just_Vote_Dem]

12. Can't rec this enough....

The young people see the truth and are not afraid to say it, unlike most of our corporate-owned mass media

[displacedvermoter]

9. Baron Trump will be all over this in the coming weeks

on behalf of his dad!

[4lbs]

11. Heh. From that Golden Throne, that every kid under 20 has?

I'm sure Dumpy the Clown thinks:

"Hey, the kid has a Golden iPhone case. He Iz Kewl!"

[2naSalit]

10. Joe might be old...

But he gets it and he listens to what the people are saying and sees what's actually going on.

[tornado34jh]

13. This isn't the first time their have done this to get people out to vote

Back in 2020, during COVID times, AOC and Ilhan Omar played with several major gamers/influencers on Twitch in the game Among Us to get people to vote. For those who don't know what it is, in Among Us (the original, not any modifications), you have two teams, crewmates and imposters. The crewmates have a do a bunch of different tasks to win the round while avoiding being killed by the imposters. On the other side, you have imposters who are supposed to kill the crewmates and also sabotage systems. Some of the sabotages are time-critical. If you don't do it in time, the imposters win. In addition to doing tasks, you goal is to find the imposters. Each time a body is found or the emergency button is pressed, everyone debates and votes for who they think the imposters are. There are similar games to this, but the basic idea is still the same. I have never played it, but I have watched videos of it.

Needless to say, it was a very effective way. Of course, Republicans hated it.

[BumRushDaShow]

15. "Back in 2020, during COVID times, AOC and Ilhan Omar played with several major gamers/influencers on Twitch"

Both of them are "Millennials" and that is their universe. They were children and teens when "the web" was getting underway and the Gen Zs/Gen Alphas were right behind them, born and raised in it.

[tornado34jh]

18. True, but at this point, if it works, might as well go for it, especially given what is at stake

I guarantee you if the Republicans get into power, they will want to control social media and media in general, (e.g. Youtube, Twitch). I highly doubt that influencers will escape that, especially those who don't kowtow to their ideology.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

14. lol people are bemoaning this as if every Jeff Tiedrich throwaway tweet doesn't get tons of likes here

[ificandream]

17. There's a difference between agreeing with an opinion and levitating it to news.

Social media is basically what Fox does. That's not news and will never be.

[ificandream]

16. This saddens me a lot.

Social media, no matter how popular, is not real news. It's clickbait. It's opinion. In the days before social media, it would all be on the op-ed page. Opinion rarely showed up on news pages back then. I'm sorry that President Biden gave into this.

[tornado34jh]

19. Well, maybe it is because most news media don't actually do the news. That's why a lot of people turn to social media

Sensationalism sells. That's how they make their money. Why do you think the mainstream media had been going after Biden all these years? Trump was the best thing that could have happened. Why? Because it gives them money and ratings. Perhaps the question shouldn't be why we are trying to court social media influencers and more on why the MSM isn't checking facts (I'm looking at you, New York Times, Washington Post, etc.). Even then, those same news outlets use social media as well, so it's not like they are only doing it when you get your newspaper.