MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — Politicians are reaching out to key voting demographics differently than they did a few years ago. They’re using social media apps like Instagram and TikTok to reach Gen Z and Millennials.
U.S. Congressman Jeff Jackson, who represents portions of Mecklenburg and Gaston counties in the House of Representatives, says what is a mundane protocol to some members of Congress is fascinating to millions of Americans he’s connected with on social media.
"I did a post to social media where I told people about, here's what the first week looks like," Rep. Jeff Jackson, (D) 14th District said. "And part of it's about new security and part of meeting other members. And there was a ton of interest and people asked a lot of really good questions."
The one video was viewed by at least 2.7 million people on TikTok. Jackson won his house seat with 148,738 votes.
In the thousand of comments, people wanted to know if he represented their district, that their social studies classes watched his TikToks, and that the transparency was refreshing.
"There's just a massive lack of trust in all elected officials in what we do here and the way that you address that is through transparency," Jackson said. "Transparency is the key to trust."
Claflin University Assistant Professor of History Robert Greene said the American public responds positively when let inside how their government works.
"I think so often, what we see in Washington, D.C. is this assumption that what happens there just stays there," Greene said. "But in fact, if more Americans are aware of how the process of legislating actually works, it may hopefully push more Americans for high office, to actually go to town hall forums, to actually push their congressmen and senators to work on their behalf."
Jackson doesn’t use his government-issued phone for TikTok or his normal personal one. He got a different phone specifically for the social media app.
"I've got a phone that has one app on it and that app is TikTok," Jackson said.
The previous Congress recently passed a bill to ban TikTok on government issues phones. Both North and South Carolina state governments also have bans for the social media app on government-issued phones.
"TikTok is owned by a Chinese company and we've seen legitimate security concerns there," Jackson said.
Jackson anticipates more guardrails around data usage by TikTok and how the company uses the app's algorithm.
Tightening cybersecurity is a topic Jackson sees the divided Congress passing bipartisan legislation on this session.
"I think there is a large, large common ground and a good possibility for some type of bipartisanship when it comes to reining in big tech," Jackson said. "I think privacy issues, particularly around our data, especially around children and their data."
Greene said members of Congress like Jackson are key to legislation moving forward.
"What could possibly happen is we could see more moderate Republicans trying to cut some deals with the Democratic minority in the house to get some things done," Greene said. "But more than likely, what we're going to see is that the Republicans who are most determined to oppose President Biden will make sure that their agenda comes first."
Jackson said he’s keeping security and openness at the forefront.
"The idea is to start to fill some of that deep hole where trust used to be, and get to a place where as Americans, we can at least have a conversation again, about problems we have to solve," Jackson said.
Contact Shamarria Morrison at smorrison@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.