WHAT EXACTLY ARE CELEBRITIES POLITICALLY ADVOCATING ABOUT?: A STUDY OF POLITICAL ADVOCACY FROM CELEBRITIES ON TWITTER IN THE LEAD UP TO THE 2020 ELECTION

Abstract

In today’s climate, there is a growing tendency for the celebrity sphere to intermingle with the political sphere. Celebrities such as Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Kid Rock, and 50 Cent are speaking out and getting involved in the political realm, especially in 2020. Their influence seems to play a crucial role in raising political awareness, increasing voter turnout, endorsing or attacking political candidates and more. Previous studies have found that celebrity advocacy has had a significant impact on politics, primarily due to their wide platforms and their ability to influence millions of followers. In most studies, scholars have focused specifically on trying to understand their effects on politics. However, there is little research on the actual political content of their advocacy. In order to better understand the effects of celebrity advocacy, political scientists must first understand what their advocacy is even about. Thus, my research aims to gain a better understanding of the actual content of their political advocacy and what kind of political advocacy they are doing. Political activism on social media is becoming increasingly more prominent, especially in 2020. This study focuses primarily on content within one social media platform: Twitter. In this paper, I will look at specific celebrities’ tweets in 2020, from Super Tuesday (March 3rd, 2020) to the day the Electoral College revealed the results from their vote for President (November 14, 2020). From this bounded time period, I will analyze these tweets and classify them into the four political categories: Issue Advocacy, GOTV (Get Out to Vote), Candidate Attack, and Endorsement. I will calculate political tweet frequencies across different celebrities’ demographic groups, such as race, gender, and party. Lastly, I will find what are the specific political issues that celebrities advocate for. My research finds that in 2020, out of celebrities’ 15,228 total tweets, 2,617 of those tweets were political. This means that on average, around 20% of celebrities’ tweets were political in 2020. Across race, Asian celebrities had the highest political tweet frequency, then Blacks, then Hispanics, then Whites and then lastly “Others”. Across gender, female celebrities had the highest political tweet frequency in comparison to their male counterparts, and Democrat celebrities were more likely to politically advocate than Republican celebrities. Out of the four political advocacy categories, Issue Advocacy was the most prominent category, then GOTV, then Candidate Attacks, and then lastly, Endorsements. Focusing on how political tweets changed and developed throughout March to December, 2020, I found that they mirrored the political climate of 2020, moving from advocacy about COVID-19 to Racial Inequality, then lastly to GOTV, advocating for followers to participate in the Election. Lastly, the most prominent political issue within Blacks, Asians, and Hispanics was Racial inequality, whereas within Whites and the “Others” demographic, the most prominent issue was COVID-19. Overall, my study shows what celebrities’ political advocacy was like in 2020, and shows just how political the role of the celebrity is becoming.