Daily US Times: On Friday, TikTok creators are launching a voter registration campaign that is geared at reaching potential new voters through viral videos on the micro-video platform. The campaign, “Tok the Vote,” is the first nationwide voter registration campaign on TikTok, According to the organizers.
Organizers hope their videos reach potential eligible voters until voter registration deadlines close.
The campaign has started on Friday where participants are encouraged to make their profile picture a “Tok the Vote” image that the organization will send to participants, change the link in their TikTok bio to www.tokthevote.com and post a video on their own page with the #TokTheVote hashtag.
According to Colton Hess, 25-year-old founder of Tok the Vote, so far, the Tok the Vote coalition has convened more than 300 creators from across the United States with a combined audience of over 20 million viewers.
Despite President Trump’s potential ban of TikTok and the company has sued the administration over Trump’s order –organizers continue to mobilize on the video app. If young people are on TikTok, organizers believe they need to be there, too.
Hess said: “Gen Z will be a pivotal group in the 2020 election, and TikTok is their entertainment and information platform of choice.”
“Covid-19 has presented a huge barrier to voter registration, with in-person events canceled, and the youth vote is hit the hardest by proms, graduations, and other registration opportunities being called off.”
”We need to meet these potential voters where they are – on TikTok — and encourage creators who they feel like they know and trust to connect them with the information and resources they need,” he said.
The campaign is using Vote.org’s voter registration tool on their website. They will be able to track voter registrations from their campaign using individualized Vote.org links, according to Tok the Vote.
Vote.org makes its digital tools accessible to a wide array of voter engagement initiatives and it is one such effort leveraging Vote.org technology to reach voters this year.
Participants signed up for the Tok the Vote campaign include TikTokers with millions of followers, as well as with smaller profiles.
Security analysts have voiced concerns over the safety of TikTok, given that the company is owned by a Chinese company and reportedly collects users’ location and metadata. TikTok has pushed back against security concerns, calling them “unfounded.” The app, which is especially popular among young generation, has soared in downloads in recent months.
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