What Next: Who Influences the Influencers?

Slate News

Slate Podcasts

News, News Commentary, Politics

4.6 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 15 August 2022

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

During his presidency, Donald Trump demonstrated the power that social media can have in politics. Now, influencers are taking money to spread messages from across the spectrum. Unlike political ads in older media, though, influencers don’t have to disclose who is paying them—or even that they’re being paid at all. Guest: Ben Wofford, writer based at Stanford Law School, contributor to Wired. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:37.2	If he's being totally honest, Ben Wofford isn't really on the internet.
0:42.6	He doesn't have a TikTok or an Instagram.
0:45.2	Okay, so you're a digital neon.
0:48.8	But even Ben has found it hard to miss the way politicians and the people who work with
0:53.6	them have started to cultivate the people who use the apps he so acidiously avoids.
1:00.4	I think it was Jen Socky, the former White House press secretary, in one case that comes
1:05.9	to mind that films some clips with a TikTok star.
1:10.7	One sec, democracy's calling.
1:12.7	See you daddy, bye.
1:13.9	Hi, my name is Cooper, and this is a day in my life as a White House intern.
1:18.8	I think his name is Benny Drama.
1:20.8	Yeah, he was pretending to be the White House intern.
1:23.2	Right, right, right, exactly.
1:25.2	Hey Jenny, I've worked through an ale appointment love.
1:28.0	Yeah, I didn't tell you to do that.
1:29.4	It's called initiative.
	...

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