What role did social media play in the 2024 election, and did it influence the outcome?
Executive summary
Social media was a central stage of the 2024 campaign: platforms amplified candidate messaging, superstar influencers and micro-influencers reached younger voters, and online narratives—both factual and false—moved rapidly into mainstream coverage [1] [2] [3]. Scholarly and polling analyses show social media shaped perceptions, especially among swing and new voters who relied on it for news, and that disinformation and platform policy changes materially affected the information environment [4] [5] [6].
1. Social media as a force-multiplier for attention and narrative
Candidates and campaign teams used platforms strategically to generate engagement that translated into earned media and public attention—an effect long visible since 2016 and again evident in 2024—because posts that spike engagement encourage repeated coverage by traditional outlets and create conversational momentum online [1] [7]. Different platforms performed distinct functions: TikTok and Instagram delivered viral visual storytelling and youth engagement, while X served as a rapid-fire amplifier for opinion leaders and journalists, meaning strategies were platform-specific and complementary [8] [3] [7].
2. Disinformation, amplification, and the role of intermediaries
Organized disinformation campaigns and misleading content circulated widely on social platforms and were often repackaged by influencers, memes, and mainstream outlets, helping shape voter views about candidates and performance—Brookings concluded disinformation “defined” much of the 2024 narrative [4]. Independent analyses and industry reports warned that the principal threat was not purely AI synthesis but the rapid distribution of false, hateful, or violent material enabled by social networks’ reach and weakened moderation after layoffs and policy shifts at major companies [6] [9].
3. Who relied on social media, and how that mattered to the electorate
Surveys indicate a disproportionate share of swing voters and new Trump voters cited social media as a main news source in 2024, with one post‑election study finding 45 percent of swing voters and 52 percent of new Trump voters turned to social platforms for news—higher than the national average—suggesting platform narratives had electorally relevant penetration among persuadable blocs [5]. Campus and youth-focused polling also showed that younger cohorts increasingly used socials as primary election information channels, reinforcing the platforms’ role in shaping political learning and engagement [10] [11].
4. Platforms, incentives, and the changing integrity landscape
Commercial incentives—engagement-driven algorithms and the advertising economy—combined with staffing cuts at major tech firms to reduce the capacity for content moderation, creating an environment where sensational or divisive material gained outsized circulation [6] [12]. Academic studies and expert commentary highlighted the echo‑chamber and personalization effects of algorithmic feeds, which amplify confirmation bias and polarize discussions, while also noting influential voices and micro‑influencers can move audiences in ways traditional media do not [13] [2].
5. Did social media influence the outcome? A balanced verdict
Social media decisively shaped the information environment, voter perceptions, and where many voters got news; evidence ties platform usage to vote choice among specific groups—especially new and swing voters—making it reasonable to conclude social media influenced the election’s dynamics and some voters’ decisions [5] [4]. However, scholars and analysts emphasize that social media was one of multiple causes; macroeconomic concerns, policy issues, and long-standing partisan trends also drove voting behavior, so attributing the overall result solely to social media would overreach beyond available evidence [4] [1]. Existing reporting and studies document clear influence on narratives, persuasion opportunities among targeted cohorts, and structural effects from disinformation and platform governance, but they do not provide a precise causal percentage of vote swings attributable exclusively to social platforms [9] [6].
Conclusion
The 2024 election demonstrates social media's maturation from campaign tool to core battleground: it magnified messages, amplified falsehoods, and mattered most where audience reliance and persuasion potential overlapped—notably among younger, digitally native voters and certain swing segments—while broader structural and policy forces concurrently shaped the ultimate outcome; available reporting supports influence, but not a single‑factor determinism [1] [5] [4].