The Screenshot: Week of November 9
The election is over, and so is a tumultuous four years. President-elect Joe Biden promised to unite the country and Kamala Harris has made history. But before we wrap up the longest week ever, we’re doing some reflecting on the election for Gen Z.
So, here’s your TL;DR for our Election Aftermath edition: Gen Z voters held the White House keys; Our New Election Heartthrobs; US leaves Paris Climate Agreement; GAP should’ve left a gap before tweeting this; The youngest California Assemblyman; Electoral College memes; Main Character Syndrome and what is Gen Z now expecting from President Biden?
Trending
⬆️ The first American election in this COVID world and now we have our FIRST…
⬆️ In awaiting for the election results, TikTok found its new heartthrobs!
⬆️ California elects its youngest Assemblyman in 82 years… and he’s pretty Gen Z.
⬇️ US officially left the Paris Climate Agreement a day after the election. We’re not happy but…
⬇️ GAP was in hot water on election night as it tweeted this. Yikes!
⬇️ The Electoral College kept our minds boggling so we just made these jokes instead.
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Your A to Gen Z
Main Character / Gen Z lingo /
(Phrase)
1. An empowering feeling and an attitude that you are the protagonist of the world around you.
2. The TikTok hashtag has 4.9bn views, and there was even a Miley-inspired trend!
3. This week, Gen Z was criticised on Twitter for ”having Main Character Syndrome” for wanting to change the world through this election. Yes we do… and?
Ztat
Around 56% of eligible young voters cast their vote in 2020 compared to 45% in 2016 (CIRCLE)
Speaking of “Main Character Syndrome,” Gen Z really took it on ourselves to mobilize and vote in this election. Far from being a generation that’s too easily caricatured as being self-absorbed and being hooked to TikTok, we danced our way to fulfil our civic duty with pride. In this election, young people’s voting turnout jumped by 11% compared to 2016, and our share of the vote was nearly 20%. Young voters organized in bigger numbers than ever before, and without that overwhelming support Joe Biden would not be President-elect. Rep. Pramila Jayapal said young voters who “will ultimately save the day in the race for the White House.”
Last week, we chatted to you about Stacy Abrams’ efforts to fight voter suppression in Georgia, and due to her hustle Georgia will be turning blue for the first time in nearly 30 years. The credit also goes to Black Gen Zers in Georgia who voted for Biden-Harris by an astonishing 82-point margin. When young people are invested in civic engagement, it continues throughout their lives. So we’re putting the opponents to our causes on notice: Gen Z has mobilized and we know our work goes beyond Election Day; we’re pushing progress and we’ll love to see it.
Group Chat
A Biden Presidency for Gen Z
It’s no secret that Gen Z voted for Biden in sweeping numbers – exit polls show that the President-elect held a 27 point margin over the current incumbent – and it’s obviously because the issues close to Gen Z’s heart now have a champion in the White House. Biden pledged to improve access to healthcare, shrink income and racial inequality, push better education outcomes and deal with the Coronavirus in a thoughtful and sustainable way.
Amongst these, tackling climate change was the hottest pledge pushing young people into the Biden column. While Biden pledged his support for the Green New Deal, it seems unlikely to pass without a Senate majority. There is, however, still a lot he can do using alternative routes. Having pledged to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement and world leaders welcoming the US back into the global climate movement, it seems this could be the defining issue of the Biden administration.
But let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. It’s true that many Gen Zers are pleased that a President who shows disregard for these crucial issues is out of the White House, but Biden still needs to show up for a group whose vote was overwhelmingly against his opponent rather than passionately for him. So we’re saying: Congratulations, Mr. President-elect, we’re rooting for you, but we will hold your feet to the proverbial wildfire in tackling these crises.
Screenshot Of The Week
More on Trending…
1. First Black and South Asian American woman to be Vice President, and Doug Emhoff is the first to hold the Gentleman title (even if it is as Second Gentleman).
2. Election analysts have TikTok’s hearts. Move over Centineo, it’s all about John King and Steve Kornacki now.
3. Alex Lee is Cali’s newest Assemblyman. He touched over 30,000 people with his authenticity, pledged to push affordable housing and even worked as a gig worker.
4. The year-long process of leaving the Paris Agreement has just ended, but we’re getting ready to go back according to President-Elect Biden.
5. GAP tweeted a red and blue zip hoodie on Election night telling us ‘move forward together’. But amidst angst and tension on the night, it was just tone-deaf. Read the room!
6. As the map increasingly diverged from the polls on election night, Electoral College anxiety seeped in. So, we just imagined what the map would look like if Britney was running.
talk to us, not about us.
Jawwad Mustafa is the Director of The Screenshot Newsletter. He’s always got a drink in hand - either peppermint tea, peach iced tea or a vanilla latte. If you see him with anything else, you’ll really need to vote for him as The Imposter. You can find his creativity on Instagram at @JawwadTheCreator.