Shapiro for Pennsylvania Campaign Hosts First Ever TikTok Text Bank with Gen Z for Change, TikTok Influencers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 1, 2022
Contact:
SPA Press, Press@joshshapiro.org
Shapiro for Pennsylvania Campaign Hosts First Ever TikTok Text Bank with Gen Z for Change, TikTok Influencers
The Shapiro for PA campaign is the first modern statewide campaign to collaborate with Gen-Z for Change and TikTok influencers Victoria Hamlett and Connor Hesse to do a nationwide text bank across multiple TikTok lives.
PENNSYLVANIA – Last night, thousands of young voters from across the Commonwealth tuned in as Josh Shapiro joined TikTok influencers and activists for a TikTok Live Text Bank. The Shapiro for PA campaign is the first modern statewide campaign to collaborate with Gen-Z for Change and TikTok influencers to do a nationwide text bank across multiple TikTok lives. During this event, students sent 14,000 messages, written by Gen-Z campaign staff, to persuade PA Gen-Z voters to register and get out to vote. First-time voters also learned how to vote by mail in Pennsylvania.
Last night’s event was reflective of the innovative and dynamic ways Team Shapiro and Students for Shapiro have been activating and mobilizing Gen-Z voters. As part of the mobilization program, Students for Shapiro is focused on reaching Gen-Z voters in person, online and through texting, including, through the Students for Shapiro app.
The campaign is the first gubernatorial campaign to have a campaign app by Gen-Z, for Gen-Z. The app has activities tailored to young voters, including registering to vote and making vote plans. The most popular feature of the app, by far, is the peer-to-peer texting to Gen-Z voters across PA. So far, the campaign has sent over 1.4 million texts and 250,000 of those texts are Gen-Z voters.
The Shapiro campaign is also one of the first statewide campaigns to leverage influencer reach and engagement for Gen-Z mobilization. The campaign runs a 41 person network of TikTok influencers called Influencers for Democracy, with a combined reach of over 20 million followers. These influencers communicate with the campaign constantly and push out content on their own profiles. This content includes everything from rapid response to breaking news about Doug Mastriano.
Since launching our campaign, Josh Shapiro and Austin Davis have made reaching out to young voters a critical piece of their effort to win this race. Through our The Team Josh PA App, and our active TikTok channel, the campaign has been able to mobilize Gen-Z voters, address the issues that matter most to them and meet them where they’re at – whether online or on campus.
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