"Spreadability" is the culmination of resources and forces that allow for content to circulate to an audience. Traditionally, through mediums such as television, companies or campaigns would attempt to cater content with a generic, wide appeal to reach as many as possible Today, the internet allows for these groups to pander to more niche audiences and reach a larger percentage of like-minded individuals form within those groups.
Social Media is a great tool, and utilized properly, can help people with any budget to spread an idea to a massive audience. However, when done wrong, the results can be disastrous, and instead project your idea as a massive laughing stock. If you don't play your cards right, the internet can be a very brutal place, and is becoming increasingly influential in modern day society.
A relevant example of Social Media done poorly is Mike Bloomberg's 2020 bizarre presidential campaign, which seems to be missing all of the marks. Scrolling across social media for the past several months, I have been noticing, with increasing frequency, misguided attempts to pander to millenials and meme connoisseurs on multiple platforms.
One example of Bloomberg's campaign's poor understanding of the social media landscape is a short 10 second video of him endorsing "Big Gay Ice Cream". "Big Gay" is a phrase used by ironic meme pages, parodying immature childhood taunts, used for cheap laughs in my generations post-ironic meme humor.
The abstract nature of post-ironic memes makes them off-putting to outsiders (usually called "normies") and hard to understand unless given the context of having come of age in internet culture, and having a taste for the absurdism of the genre. As a person who has been immersed in meme culture for years, I find it hard to believe that Mike Bloomberg has any understanding of why the name "Big Gay" may be funny and appealing to a younger audience.
Bloomberg himself likely thinks that by showcasing his endorsement of the "Big Gay" brand, he is garnering the legitimate, unironic support of the LGBT community, but after watching him soullessly recite "mmm, Big Gay Ice Cream is the best" I highly doubt that a single individual has been swayed into whole-heartedly supporting Bloomberg's Campaign. As a thinking person, Bloomberg's misinformed attempt at millennial humor dehumanizes him further in my eyes, and appears more like a prank or parody than a real push to becoming president of the United States.
Another Attempt by Bloomberg to capture the hearts and minds of the youth is his strange sponsored ads on social media such as this one.
Taken from instagram meme page @tank.sinatra, Bloomberg's campaign seems to be ironically parodying how out of touch it appears in an attempt to be humorous and human, but as the comments and caption suggest, no one is fooled. The top comments all suggest forgiveness for taking the money gained by accepting such an absurd sponsorship, but never have I seen a single person who appeared to unironically support Bloomberg in the comments of one of these Instagram Pages. This Social Media campaign to me appears to be a waste of money, and counterintuitive to his bid for presidency.
What Bloomberg's campaign to conquer the internet fails to realize is that it needs authentic support from "grassroots intermediaries". "Grassroots intermediaries" are unofficial parties with influence over the information flow throughout their communities. What many Politicians and brands attempting to enter the world of social media fail to realize is the need for the genuine support and co-singing of influencers and the general public.
Bloomberg's relatability blunders are comparable to those of Hillary Clinton in 2016. I don't think a single person saw Clinton whip and nae nae on Ellen and though to themselves, "Wow, I was kind of on the fence before, but seeing this? I know she really cares about me, the citizen."
Politicians pushing 60+ years of age don't need to try and relate to a culture they are clearly not a part of. From what we have observed over the past few years, it is actually detrimental to their bids for public support, leaving the public confused, disillusioned, and creeped out.
On the other hand, Bernie Sanders has been able to garner massive social media support, without pushing soulless, corny attempts to pander to meme culture. Whether or not Sanders is actually the person he portrays is not important, because Sanders has been able to push an image of a down to Earth older man, who doesn't try to pretend he is apart of the youth culture to gain support. Bernie Sanders has been able to garner the backing of many millenials and Gen X-ers by having policies that align with their worldviews and displaying integrity.
Donald Trump has been able to be the largest, most talked about social media presence in the white house so far, by posting sarcastic, absurd images and phrases that always get shared and discussed. While Donald Trump's policies and supporters make me sick to my stomach, posts like these are absurd and humorous, and I understand how they become so easily widespread. When Donald Trump posts his photoshopped head onto the body of shirtless Rocky Balboa, the bizarre absurdity of the president of the United States posting such a thing on social media makes reality seem surreal.
Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, through very different methods, have been much more successful than Clinton and Bloomberg in the realm of social media, and for now, it seems that the internet will not be fooled by obvious pandering when it comes to politicians.
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