People sit next to a content creators wall on the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago in August.
People sit next to a content creators wall on the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago in August. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP via Getty Images)

Merrick Hanna is, by any metric, a TikTok star.

The 19-year-old has more than 32 million followers on the platform and about 20 million across YouTube and Instagram. He’s known for his dancing videos, typically set to viral audio clips and pop songs.

Attending the Democratic National Convention definitely wasn’t his normal style. And he wasn’t sure it was a good idea.

“I’ve never made a video even talking vaguely about politics,” he told NPR about a week after the DNC had wrapped up. “It was only when I mentioned the opportunity to my grandmother that she told me that she had gone to the DNC in 1960 as a volunteer and thought it was an amazing experience and that I should go, too.”

Merrick Hanna, 19, known initially for his appearance on 'America's Got Talent' when he was 11, will vote for the first time this year. He’s one of 41 million Gen Zers newly eligible to cast a ballot in the presidential race. 'I do believe that politics are important. They affect all of us,” he said. “That's what I kind of wanted to share with my followers — just to get people to vote, really.”
Merrick Hanna, 19, known initially for his appearance on “America’s Got Talent” when he was 11, will vote for the first time this year. He’s one of 41 million Gen Zers newly eligible to cast a ballot in the presidential race. “I do believe that politics are important. They affect all of us,” he said. “That’s what I kind of wanted to share with my followers — just to get people to vote, really.” (Kevin Yac | Shawn Hanna)

Hanna was one of more than 200 credentialed content creators at the Democratic convention, almost three times as many compared to those at the Republican’s convention in July.

The move is part of a larger push by the Democratic Party to reach Americans who don’t consume traditional political news, which includes many younger voters, who disproportionately use TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat at higher rates compared to older generations.

The Democratic Party is banking on the support of voters under 30 this fall, and despite increases in turnout over the past few election cycles, it’s a growing generation with largely untapped electoral might.

That goal puts potential value on working with digital creators, who may have more of a direct line to new voters. However, while some influencers who attended the DNC regularly post about news, elections and voting, and likely have political audiences, others, like Hanna, do not.

Instead, Hanna’s goal, he said, was to make entertaining videos devoid of personal political views.

“That proved to be a bit of a challenge,” he admitted.

His videos garnered between a few hundred thousand and a million views, which the teenage creator characterized as average. But he also fielded criticism online for attending the event.

@merrickhanna Thats gotta be at least a hundred people. Maybe even more. #dnc ♬ If we being rëal – ⭐️

Reflecting on the experience, he said that while he enjoyed the convention, navigating how to do his style of work was “tricky” and “slightly stressful.”

“The DNC is kind of a one-time event for me. I don’t want to become a political creator,” he said. “This one time was an incredible experience. I loved it. But I’m not sure I want to go to more.”

Democrats grow their influence

Democrats have worked with influencers in the past, including during President Biden’s 2020 campaign and his term in the White House. In Chicago, digital creators brought in more than 350 million views while at the convention, according to the DNC.

Hanna wasn’t the only creator who had to balance keeping his audience engaged, regardless of political appetite. It was something many creators struggled with, Nadya Okamoto told NPR.

“It wasn’t startling to my followers,” the lifestyle creator said, referring to her decision to attend the DNC.

On top of her vlog-like posts, the 26-year-old influencer and entrepreneur is known for her work destigmatizing periods and runs the period product company, August. She calls herself a progressive and said she’s previously lost thousands of followers over her support for abortion access.

Nadya Okamoto, 26, used to work in politics. In 2017, while a student at Harvard University, she unsuccessfully ran for city council in Cambridge, Mass. She told NPR that now, she doesn't consider herself a political influencer. But the work sticks with her as she runs her business now. 'All of that work kind of continues to reaffirm my passion for content creation,' she said. 'We live in an attention economy.'
Nadya Okamoto, 26, used to work in politics. In 2017, while a student at Harvard University, she unsuccessfully ran for city council in Cambridge, Mass. She told NPR that now, she doesn’t consider herself a political influencer. But the work sticks with her as she runs her business now. “All of that work kind of continues to reaffirm my passion for content creation,” she said. “We live in an attention economy.” (Nadya Okamoto)

Coming to the DNC, she admitted feeling some nervousness about how getting political could affect her work — but it didn’t change her decision to attend.

“I’m kind of in this awkward space where I’m a very forward-facing co-founder of a venture-backed company that has national retail partners. But I’m also an individual. I’m also an American voter,” she said. “But I think that’s the nature of politics, right? Whether it was me posting to 5 million followers or to a family chat of five people, you’re going to get that pushback. And I think that’s why the conversations are so important to have.”

While in Chicago for the convention, Okamoto posted on TikTok nearly two dozen times. She talked about her support for Harris and shared multiple interviews with public figures, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

@nadyaokamoto GRETCH 💪 such an honor @gretchenwhitmermi to talk about periods with you. Now, let’s go win this! #period #tampontax #periods ♬ Famous Mozart’s Turkish March(872150) – East Valley Music

But Okamoto still kept to her typical style: giving short, candid updates on her experience at the convention.

@nadyaokamoto Obsessed with the fact that I get to be at the #DNC ♬ original sound – Nadya Okamoto

“I’m unsurprised that the videos that performed the best weren’t substantially about politics,” she said, pointing to a post with her sisters that had the highest engagement with nearly 850,000 views.

“It’s challenging because obviously, it’s like you’re dealing with an audience that cares about values and issues, which to them is not inherently politics — and if anything has been like quite the opposite of politics,” she said.

Tori Dunlap faced a similar situation. She runs the platform Her First 100K, which helps women learn how to invest and save their money, and has more than 4.5 million followers across social media platforms.

“We saw a hit to our follower counts when I started posting that we were attending the DNC and covering it, which honestly shocked me,” Dunlap said, telling NPR she lost about 10,000 followers on Instagram, where she has about 2.1 million in total.

Tori Dunlap, 30, is a financial expert and influencer. She told NPR she knows first-hand how difficult being working in the digital space can be. 'As a woman on the internet, you can't do anything without somebody being mad at you,' she said. 'Literally two weeks before [the DNC,] I posted a photo of me in a swimsuit, and we lost 40,000 followers for that.'
Tori Dunlap, 30, is a financial expert and influencer. She told NPR she knows first-hand how difficult being working in the digital space can be. “As a woman on the internet, you can’t do anything without somebody being mad at you,” she said. “Literally two weeks before [the DNC,] I posted a photo of me in a swimsuit, and we lost 40,000 followers for that.” (Presley Ann/Getty Images for SoFi | Getty Images North America)

“It felt very, very obvious maybe what my politics were or what they might be,” she added, highlighting that her podcast and book are called Financial Feminist.

But Dunlap, who just turned 30, said the criticism didn’t phase her. Instead, she was extremely moved to attend the convention.

“Posts performed as well as our normal content, if not better,” she said. “The photos of me just absolutely so excited and losing it … We’re continuing to see a lot of love on those posts.”

But among that love, some of her followers expressed their disappointment with Dunlap’s decision to attend, so she responded.

“I’m so tired of watching everyone fight in the comments. Just because you vote for a candidate or party doesn’t mean you like everything about them or their policies,” she wrote in the comments. “I was honored to represent my platform and advocate for you all.”

Dunlap told NPR she went to the DNC to encourage her followers to participate and feel they have a voice.

Also, while her brand may be about money, its political roots run deep. Dunlap said that her opposition to former President Donald Trump’s win in 2016 motivated her to help women gain a stronger understanding of their finances. For these reasons, she said she doesn’t see a dip in followers as a loss.

“It’s not an airport. You don’t need to announce your departure,” she said. “If you don’t want to talk about politics, first of all, that’s a massive privilege. And second of all, it’s OK. You can just leave, and you can find content elsewhere.”

Transcript:

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Thousands of people gathered in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention, including about 200 digital content creators – meaning political influencers with political followers – and creators who don’t typically engage in politics. It’s part of a larger push by the Democratic Party to reach younger voters and people who don’t usually consume traditional political news. But did it work? NPR’s Elena Moore talked with some influencers about their take on being a part of the convention.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “CHERRY ON TOP”)

BINI: (Singing) Yeah, if you want it sweet…

ELENA MOORE, BYLINE: Nineteen-year-old Merrick Hanna is a TikTok star. He’s got over 32 million followers to prove it. He’s known for posting dance videos, set to popular and viral songs like this, so going to the DNC wasn’t on his radar.

MERRICK HANNA: I’ve never made a video even talking vaguely about politics.

MOORE: But when he mentioned the opportunity to his grandma…

HANNA: She told me that she had gone to the DNC in 1960 and thought it was an amazing experience and that I should go, too.

MOORE: So he went. In one post, he filmed the arena before folks came in, then waved his hand in front of the camera and cut to a packed house. Hanna wanted to make fun videos – not share his own political views. The videos he recorded at the DNC performed relatively similar to his typical posts – so between a few hundred thousand and a million views. But being in a political space sparked some criticism – way more than on his typical videos.

HANNA: The DNC is kind of a one-time event for me. I don’t want to become a political creator. This one time was an incredible experience, but I’m not sure I want to go to more.

MOORE: Altogether, the DNC says credentialed creators brought in more than 350 million views while at the convention.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

NADYA OKAMOTO: The first event this whole week is a creator meet-up on a boat.

MOORE: Nadya Okamoto is a 26-year-old creator and entrepreneur who posts about her life and has more than 4 million followers on TikTok and another million across social media. She supports Vice President Harris. Okamoto posted nearly two dozen times at the DNC, both about politics and giving short, fun updates on her experience at the convention.

OKAMOTO: I’m unsurprised that the videos that performed the best, like, weren’t substantively about politics. You’re dealing with an audience that cares about values and issues, which, to them, is not inherently politics.

TORI DUNLAP: I would say the posts performed as well as our normal content, if not better. I posted a photo – the photos of me, just absolutely so excited and losing it, and those continue to see a lot of love.

MOORE: Tori Dunlap runs the account Her First $100K, where she helps young women learn how to invest and save their own money. The 30-year-old has a collective following of closer to 4.5 million across social media platforms, but she says she lost around 10,000 followers on Instagram by going to the DNC.

DUNLAP: It’s not an airport. You don’t need to announce your departure. If you don’t want to talk about politics – first of all, it’s a massive privilege – and second of all, it’s OK. You can just leave, and you can find content elsewhere.

MOORE: Plus, she says that while her brand may be about money, its political roots run deep.

DUNLAP: The election of Donald Trump woke me up and gave me a reason to move forward with this mission of financial feminism and financial understanding for women.

MOORE: And Dunlap wants to encourage her followers to participate and feel they have a voice, but reaching potential new and young voters is one thing. Convincing them to vote is another. That’s where teen dancer Merrick Hanna is coming from, too, even if more DNCs aren’t in his future.

HANNA: I think that more people my age should be just educating themselves about politics in general, and that’s what I kind of wanted to share with my followers – just to get people to vote, really.

MOORE: Hanna, who will be voting for the first time, is one of 41 million Gen Zers newly eligible to vote this year.

Elena Moore, NPR News.