Hello!

A million years ago, and by that I mean January, I wrote about how both Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns were going to harness the energy of influencers this election. I may have actually underestimated just how much creators would play a role in the White House race, from podcasts to TikTok and super influencers like X-owner Elon Musk. 

But the campaigns diverged in how much they tapped creators for outreach. President-Elect Donald Trump, who used his megaphone on Twitter (now X) so effectively in 2016, this year spent far more time with creators, who multiplied that message—including to core groups like young men, or what election analysts have dubbed the "bro vote." 

Here's how they fared:

Podcasts

Looking back at our chart of Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris' podcast appearances during their presidential campaigns is extremely telling now. 

While both campaigns heavily embraced creators in different ways, Trump spent much more time sitting down for lengthy chats with popular hosts, ranging from Joe Rogan to the "All-In" besties and Logan Paul, than Harris did. Trump went on at least 20 shows, with nearly half of those appearances happening in October. 

In contrast, Harris appeared on just four podcasts, by our count, and none of them, such as Alex Cooper, endorsed her. She coupled those shows with a few traditional media appearances like "60 Minutes" and "The View," the latter of which backfired. When asked on the daytime talk show if she would have done anything differently than President Biden during his term, she said: "There is not a thing that comes to mind." The Trump campaign seized on that answer. 

Podcasts, a medium that's been around for more than 20 years, more recently has proved a fantastic way for creators to speak intimately and directly to their fans. The candidates, particularly Trump, recognized the value of that connection. 

Social Media 

Trump benefited from Musk's full-throated support of his candidacy after the July attempted assassination of Trump. Musk, who has about 203 million followers, used X constantly to fire off support for Trump.

Trump also cozied up to conservative-friendly creators like streamer Adin Ross and the Nelk Boys. (His 18-year-old son, Barron, reportedly is a fan of Ross and advised him on some of these strategies.) Trump also notched endorsements from big-name creators, including Rogan and Jake Paul. 

These efforts seem to have shown up in the vote: Trump won 18-to-29-year-old men by 13 percentage points, according to The Wall Street Journal. In 2020, Biden won that group by 15 percentage points. Trump also threw his support behind the Republican National Convention's decision to give access to more than 100 creators to the major political convention for the first time.

Harris' campaign staffed up with creator partnership roles, and rallied creators for their support up until the final 24 hours of the campaign to get out the vote. The Democratic National Convention one upped the RNC by inviting more than 200 influencers. 

She saw a huge groundswell of support this summer online, as coconut tree and "brat" summer memes in support of her abounded on TikTok and social media. At the time, it felt organic and was embraced as cool with Gen Z. 

But the memes ultimately didn't tell voters much about her platform or the issues she was running on. It's unclear how much they helped in convincing young people to vote for her, especially since much of that online momentum fizzled after the summer. 

At the same time, Harris, a careful career politician, has never used social media like Trump. She had plenty of A-list backing, even celebrity support from stars such as Beyonce and Lady Gaga, but that paled next to Musk's firehose of support. I think that traditional celebrity endorsement—with the exception of Taylor Swift—has less power over younger voters than a prominent influencer they love. 

When Democrats get over the rancor, it's hard not to see both sides looking at the 2024 cycle as a playbook for how to use creators. I think we'll see Democrats opt for creators and podcasters popular for their longer content as they have more sway over their followers and deeper parasocial relationships.

One thing's for sure: We'll see creators come back in an even bigger way in 2028.

Here's what else is going on…

Deals & Debuts

See The Information's Creator Economy Database for an exclusive list of private companies and their investors.

Amaze, a provider of social commerce software for creators, announced it is merging with Fresh Vine Wine, a wine producer traded on the NYSE. Amaze CEO Aaron Day is expected to be the CEO of the combined entity. Through the deal, Amaze will allow creators to launch their own branded wine and spirits. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

Substack is trying to boost downloads of its mobile app by gifting subscriptions to users. Substack, for example, offered me a gift subscription to a paid newsletter I only read the free version of, valued at $10, that I could only redeem in its app.

Amazon in India launched Creator Central, a section of its ecommerce app with tools for creators in its influencer program, including analytics and ways for them to create idea lists, photos and videos that they can upload to their personalized storefronts. The company said it will be rolled out to more than 50,000 creators in the next few weeks.

Linktree, a link-in-bio startup, announced Target joined its social commerce marketplace, meaning creators can now earn commissions by linking to the retailer's products. 

Himitsu Lab, a tech incubator, launched a new app called BeeMG in India this week, which connects creators and fans through live audio and video events. It plans to roll out BeeMG to the U.S. and Canada in the spring, followed by the U.K., Japan and other markets later next year. 

✍️Overheard

Gen Z voter signatures are sparking issues in Nevada. Young people "may not have a set signature developed yet," said Cisco Aguilar, the Democratic Nevada Secretary of State. 

They also don't have a long history of voting given their age, which makes it hard to compare their signatures and judge the authenticity, he said. 

More than 13,000 people who voted by mail in the battleground state need to verify their identities or their vote will not count, according to Aguilar's office. Of course, it's a bit of a moot point given Trump's victory, but it's an interesting issue that could come up again.

Creator Corner

Caroline Gleich, a Democratic ski mountaineer and influencer with 221,000 followers, lost her race for Senator Mitt Romney's seat in Utah to Republican Representative John Curtis. 

Giant inflatable balloons of Jake Paul and Mike Tyson popped up in Manhattan this week to promote their upcoming boxing match on Netflix on Nov. 15. 

Gurvin Singh Dyal, an Instagram influencer who handed out cash on the streets of British city Plymouth in 2019, admitted to obstructing a police investigation into an alleged $4.5 million (£3.5m) fraud, the BBC reported.

Keith Lee, a highly influential food critic on social media, announced he and his family moved to Texas from Las Vegas. 

Thank you for reading the Creator Economy Newsletter! I'd love your feedback, ideas and tips: kaya@theinformation.com. 

If you think someone else might enjoy this newsletter, please pass it forward or they can sign up here: https://www.theinformation.com/newsletters/creator-economy

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