The video’s reach highlights how Harris’s campaign strategy appears to have worked in the short term.

“The reality is that many folks are looking to get information in a variety of ways, and many content creators are essentially considered trusted messengers, just the new version of this new day and age,” Nubia Bastia, a creator from the Chicago area who uses the account @Latinasuprising told the Washington Examiner. “And so being able to go to someone you trust, and they can tell you, this is what the convention process is like. This is why this happens. It can help dispel some of that misinformation, which I think is really important.”

While it’s too early to tell if Democrat’s utilization of social media will translate to votes in November, the DNC’s inclusion of content creators comes as Harris’s campaign has sought to appeal to young voters and embrace an online phenomenon known as “brat summer.”

The campaign has furthered its own use of social media to drive the campaign as well. It created a TikTok account for Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) last week that has surpassed a million followers.

“They’re getting through to people doing what they’re doing. And you know it’s different,” said Bannon. “And then my guess is it upsets some of the press corps, traditional press corps, but it’s working for them, and if it works, don’t fix it.”

Bannon also described the Harris campaign’s media strategy as continuing that of President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign.

“I think this is a continuation of the Biden media strategy from 2020,” said Bannon, who harkened back to Biden’s 2020 campaign when critics, including former President Donald Trump, knocked him for campaigning from his basement.

“Essentially, what Biden did, I think Harris is doing now, is let Trump have the widest possible forum with the biggest possible spotlight available,” he continued.

Savannah Johnston, one of the content creators who attended the DNC, acknowledged the benefits the DNC and Harris were receiving from inviting content creators.

“I think this works out very well for the DNC in a way that a good way and a bad way, a good way in that it’s getting young people more interested because they’re following, you know, like the New York City gay dads kind of a thing, right? But also, content creators are going to be more naturally sycophantic than just kind of a traditional press whose job it is to poke holes,” said Johnston, who owns the account @savypolitics.

“It definitely gives the DNC free advertising,” Johnston told the Washington Examiner. “Yeah. But how smart of them to think of that?”

Content creators at the DNC were not paid by the Harris campaign or the DNC to attend the convention, and content creators told the Washington Examiner they were not given guidelines or required to post a certain amount of videos in return for their credentials.

“This has been completely an opportunity for us to come here and be credentialed just as media, and no one’s getting paid. And I think that’s a really cool thing because it just shows that everyone who’s here wants to be here, and I think that’s how it has to be in order for the content to be real and authentic,” said Juan Acosta, a social media influencer who creates content focused on mental health, and LGBT and immigration rights, told the Washington Examiner. “And the DNC didn’t provide any guidelines, restrictions, scripts, on anything that we needed to say. It was really trusting us to do the content that we usually do, but just do it at the DNC.”

While the DNC may not have been paying the creators, other Democratic organizations did pay some creators, according to the New York Times. The DNC did give creators “swag” when they checked in for their badges at the Raddison Blu Aqua hotel, including a Walz sugar cookie, totes, and sweaters with “Creators for Harris” printed on them, among other things.

Creators were also given workspace in the United Center in the “creator lounge” and the DNC hired a full-time staff to lead influencer and creator engagement, as well as volunteers to support creators.

The DNC was not the only one to credential content creators, with the RNC credentialing about 70. Both conventions dedicating resources to including influencers is not a coincidence. According to the Pew Research Center, 83% of adults in the United States use YouTube, 68% use Facebook, 47% use Instagram, and 33% reported using TikTok.

Meanwhile, Trump and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), have held rallies and sat down with traditional media outlets for interviews. But, Trump has also experimented with newer media this cycle, with the former president speaking on X with billionaire Elon Musk earlier this month and also sitting down for an interview with influencer Logan Paul. Trump also has an account on TikTok and regularly posts on his platform, Truth Social.

The DNC’s decision to provide resources to influencers sparked criticism from traditional media who received limited media spaces and passes to cover the DNC.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Still, content creators who spoke to the Washington Examiner said they believed there was room for both types of media to co-exist.

“I think that the reality is that these are two media formats, and there are two industries, and they have two different systems and structures. And that is, that’s just the reality. And I think the reality is that people try to get information from as many places as they can,” said Bastia. “And so perhaps that is why that trusted messenger voice is really important. And there are trusted journalists that people go to, and it’s just, it’s just, I think it’s just an additional way for folks to get more info and understanding.”