Infographics, Tik Tok and the Gen Z Guide to Voting
College students have been producing content on social media leading up to the 2020 election to ensure that they can cast a vote and that it will be counted. Despite previous reports that show ages 18-29 as the demographic with the least turnout in the polls the challenges college students face in voting, from missing deadlines to confusing ballots, has the newest voting generation facing the lack of information head on.
Young voters face numerous obstacles when it comes to elections, such as frequent moving or lack of a drivers license, according to the Campus Votes Project . On sites such as Tik Tok, an app geared towards younger audiences, accounts such as @everydaylaw provide voter education to 524,000 followers. Videos you can find on this account include how to make sure your ballot isn’t thrown out. The less than one-minute long video cites common mistakes and has 23,000 views.
Such tips have been crucial for young voters who were unaware of some of the rules. Lily Larson, a sophomore at the University of Florida, voted for the first time absentee in the 2020 election. “I saw you have to sign your name exactly the way it was on your license otherwise your vote would be invalid,” she said of the @everdaylaw video and others spreading similar information. Larson cited it as an important part of her education on the election. “Honestly if I didn’t see that I would have just signed my name however I wanted.”
For some who voted in the 2016 election, the spread of voting information online in recent months has illuminated mistakes they were previously unaware of. Kelly Tanner, a graduate student at Baruch College, has voted twice, but through posts on Tik Tok learned it is likely her last absentee ballot didn’t count. “I requested an absentee ballot, filled it out and sent it in. It wasn’t until this election when I saw on social media that you had to sign the ballot envelope before sending it,” said Tanner.
“I requested an absentee ballot, filled it out and sent it in. It wasn’t until this election when I saw on social media that you had to sign the ballot envelope before sending it”
Kelly Tanner poses with an “I voted” pin
Tanner felt she had no idea how to vote in her first presidential election in 2016, and it was the community at her college who taught her the steps for getting an absentee ballot. Now in 2020, she gets most of her information on voting from social media. “It didn’t feel great to learn that my vote didn’t count for anything, but it’s been four years so I was mostly glad I learned for this election,” she said. “It reminded me that at least I’m seeing more information this time around so other people won’t make my mistake either.”
On Instagram, entire accounts have sprouted up to provide infographics that teach students how and when to vote. One account, @ voting.school, has resources that go state to state to show users when they need to be registered to vote and deadlines for requesting absentee ballots. Meanwhile, @soyouwanttotalkabout tackles subjects of voter intimidation and the perks of voting early.
The boom of these Instagram infographics has not gone unnoticed. Michaela Super, a senior at the University of New England, thinks a majority of the information she got on voting came from Instagram. “I voted in the primaries, but I felt almost overwhelmed with the amount of information I saw on my social media accounts. By the time I was inside the polls the only anxiety I had was not being able to find my way through the polling center.”
Both Tanner and Larson agreed that most of their anxiety came with the election itself, issues with COVID-19, and long lines, rather than filling out their ballot correctly. “I felt confident filling out the ballot, the instructions were good,” Larson said. “I was more confused on how to send it back, so that’s when I reached out to people.” She felt social media was a major difference around voting this presidential election. “Yes, social media was around in 2016, but people definitely weren’t as involved.”