Beto O'Rourke and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have mastered Instagram Stories

https://ift.tt/2JYLoxj

Beto O'Rourke and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have mastered Instagram Stories

https://ift.tt/2OI3Xa9

In a world increasingly obsessed with social media, today's politicians have found a secret weapon: Instagram stories.

By documenting their daily activities using Instagram's Stories and Live features, rising political stars like Beto O'Rourke and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have given supporters a rare glimpse at some of the most humanizing moments in their lives.

For many, the stripped down, extremely casual content — think cooking dinner at home or doing DIY projects with family — serves as a refreshing change from polished speeches and the formality of campaign trails. And so far political Instagram seems to be a big hit.

Not a regular dad. A cool dad.

Fans of Beto O'Rourke know that throughout the course of his Senate campaign the man didn't shy away from social media. He frequently shared photos, videos, and messages on Twitter and often went live on Facebook — usually while driving or visiting Whataburger.

part of the beto mystique is that he understood how to use social media as an influencer, and not a politician

— Astead (@AsteadWesley) November 11, 2018

But since O'Rourke conceded the midterm election to Ted Cruz, his primary social media outlet has been Instagram. Since his midterm loss, O'Rourke has eaten chips and guac in the car while driving, made homemade slime with his daughter, gone on a hike with his family, and even cooked a flank steak marinated in soy, lime, ginger, and freaking garlic.

I know all of this deeply personal information not because I have Twitter notifications turned on for him (which I do), but because he openly shared it with his 550,000 followers, in real time, on Instagram. We are not worthy.

At the end of the day, Beto's just a regular guy with a family who loves food and isn't going to let his loss keep him from living his life. And that's what makes his carefree IG Stories such an absolute mood. 

Beto's content is so relatable that often people have no choice but to screenshot his posts and literally write "MOOD." And while everyone is, of course, entitled to privacy — especially following a public election loss — the fact that Beto's opening up to his followers and sharing bits of his family's life means a lot. 

on beto’s instagram story today he was just driving and eating chips and guac and it was just the biggest mood

— e•li•za (@LAPlDOT) November 9, 2018

Beto making slime on his Instagram story with his daughter is a MOOD

— → (@thecleelife) November 10, 2018

Remember after the 2016 election when people would rejoice when Hillary Clinton was spotted hiking in the woods or browsing a bookstore? People liked knowing she was surviving, thriving, and living her damn life. And though there are many parts of his day he doesn't show, Beto gives a similar sense of reassurance with his Instagram stories. 

AOC is keepin' it real, too

Though Beto definitely has the "cool dad politician" gap filled, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — the 29-year-old who just became the youngest woman elected to Congress — is making the most of Instagram's Story features, too.

In the days since midterms, she's used the social media platform to chat politics with her 507,000 followers while cooking up Instant Pot mac and cheese on a Friday night, publicly listen to Janelle Monáe, and give the world a glimpse of what it's like to do all that post-campaign laundry that builds up.

um alexandria ocasio-cortez is literally making instant pot mac n cheese on instagram live and talking about politics and listening to janelle monae on a friday night. this is the representation i am here for!!!!!!! @ocasio2018 never change pic.twitter.com/A3AcrXbTC3

— eel notyep (@peyIRL) November 10, 2018

.@Ocasio2018 AOC on Instagram doing her laundry at a public washer saying how members of Congress never have time to do laundry AS IF most of them do their own laundry ?? true representative of the people!!! ???? pic.twitter.com/2aDL1zNyHT

— cesar again (@CESARIANSECTION) November 12, 2018

Watching Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Instagram doing coin laundry has made me feel more human than anything has in the last two+ years

— Emily Devereaux (@edevereauxxx) November 12, 2018

This is a great use of Instagram Live—love how @ocasio2018 uses the informal, but accessible act of cooking to facilitate the q&a.

More representatives should leverage Instagram in more unique ways (for instance, use a gallery of text and graphics to breakdown legislation). https://t.co/sx98esi5wZ

— Robert Michael Murray ? (@rmmageddon) November 12, 2018

And Ocasio-Cortez doesn't seem to be stopping her livestreams any time soon. In fact, she recently announced on Twitter that she's going to hold regular "Instagram Live Cook + Q&A" sessions, during which she prepares food while answering questions from around the world. Could anyone be cooler?

Thanks to everyone who joined me last night for my first Instagram Live Cook + Q&A!

It was great answering questions casual and political alike from constituents and supporters across the country.

See you next time! https://t.co/j1GZIfsqEt

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) November 10, 2018

Keep the Insta content coming

Instagram Stories debuted back in the summer of 2016 — with the Instagram Live feature coming out in November of that year. But since the app started developing new interactive features like GIFs and polls, more and more people are choosing it as the place to post their real time updates.

By June 2018, Instagram Stories reportedly had 400 million daily users — twice as many as Snapchat — so if there's ever been a time for politicians to hop on the bandwagon, now seems like a pretty good one.

America's youth voted at historic rates in the 2018 midterms, and while many factors contributed to the rise in young people at the polls, an appealing presence on Instagram certainly doesn't hurt when it comes to encouraging people to cast a ballot.

As Beto and Alexandria have shown us, it is possible for politicians to be extremely charming and relatable on Instagram. So if this is the future of politics, count us in.

Social Media

via Mashable https://ift.tt/2DCFv97

November 12, 2018 at 02:40PM