Summary
Despite his conservative platform, Donald Trump made unexpected gains among Gen Z voters. Exit polls showed a shift, with young men favoring Trump by 2 points, a reversal from Biden’s previous lead.
Gen Z’s support for Trump may have been underestimated, as an Axios poll found nearly half of Gen Z voters lied about their vote, with young men more likely to support Trump quietly.
Trump connected with young men through appearances on popular podcasts and endorsements from social media influencers.
Disillusionment with the economy and frustration with the Democratic Party’s approach to working-class issues also drove some Gen Z voters to seek change, with Trump capitalizing on these sentiments.
The only people this was a “secret” too are people who weren’t looking or listening.
Well, a lot of people - mostly people in a certain age range - kept saying how magical the younguns are, how media savvy and how morally upright they were, and how they were going to get things right where the stupid boomers, Gen X and Gen Y got it all wrong…
And while I’d like to believe that, I’ve seen little evidence of better instruction anywhere K-12 or in higher education about logical fallacies and teaching about a good media diet. Being able to install an app on your phone doesn’t make anyone media savvy; these things are designed so nearly any idiot can use it.
Why anyone ever thought that “the kids” were going to be able to have a better filter than older generations is like assuming kids plopped in front of Saturday morning TV that was meant to PREY on them were more “media savvy” about that environment…sigh.
If anything the easy access to information and apps are a lower barrier of entry than in the past meaning you can be dumber and still participate.
I don’t want to shit on an entire generation but I am also not so impressed. This is a historic thing though where people don’t think highly of younger generations. One needs to be aware of this bias.
If anything the easy access to information and apps are a lower barrier of entry than in the past meaning you can be dumber and still participate.
Yes, exactly this. I’m old enough to remember the Eternal September and the inherent assumptions built into that criticism - prior to that, the Internet population tended to be skewed toward very smart people in the engineering/technique kind of sense, but also I would say quite a few were lacking in emotional intelligence and/or wisdom as well and it would be hard to argue they were any better at critical thinking and/or media literacy. I remember people lamenting how “easy” AOL made it ( ironically, probably something quite a few of our “tech savvy” younger generations of today might find way too onerous to bother with, LOL).
But I certainly do chuckle at the notion that “kids just know tech better” just by virtue of using a touch interface from early childhood and having intimate knowledge of a few branded platforms. I mean, UX, when it comes to commercial software products, is about making sure people are not breaking their brains on using those products. They are specifically designed so even the dumbest (usually with a “but can your mother/grandmother understand it” kind of discussion by the builders) in the population can use it. Familiarity with a product/platform is no more “tech savvy” than knowing all about Nike makes someone a top athlete.
I’m a highschool teacher. This generation of students isn’t even more tech savvy, let alone media savvy. Your exactly correct about the design of modern technology; this generation grew up with tablets and iPhones, they have no idea how to do some incredibly basic tasks unless an app does it for them, and they no understanding of really core - and in my mind simple - computer use concepts like what a folder is, or how find a file on a device and attach it to an email.
We’ve begun teaching media literacy in the highschools, but it’s unfortunately falling into the pitfalls or most education. We pull specialized articles from sources that students would literally never engage with, discuss how to read such articles and how they can be misleading, and never make the connection to the kind of content that students actually absorb. Students are day-in, day-out learning from influencers and social media, and we’re handing them articles from 2010 reprinted into textbooks and news posts they’d never have the patience to read, while continually reinforcing that cell phones are toys that are meant to stay out of the classroom and used in private or with small groups of friends.
The kids aren’t alright, but that’s not on them.
this generation grew up with tablets and iPhones, they have no idea how to do some incredibly basic tasks unless an app does it for them
Yep, I’ve been completely underwhelmed with what constitutes being “tech savvy” for a lot of people in that age range. For some of them, if it isn’t a product (and a popular one), it’s like it doesn’t register for them. They think in terms of brands when it comes to technology.
Tech aside, I would love for schools at K-12 and at higher levels of learning to incorporate critical thinking and media literacy instruction. It would be an uphill battle though, probably at the very outset, but certainly after reactionary parents start noticing that their kids don’t think just like them. For some reason, people seem to believe that school is just a glorified job training program, and that anything outside of that is off-limits, meaning, their kids are expected to come out believing the exact same shit going into school as when they come out. I view that as an education FAILURE if a student comes out believing exactly what their parents believe in the end without ever having questioned any of it. Of course, if children deviate even slightly from what their parents/pastor/community believes, the wingers think that is “indoctrination”.
I have written and moderated courseware for education students focusing on digital literacy. A requirement for graduation, pass/fail. I was so excited to start the project. I was so disappointed by the end.
The teachers to-be had very little digital literacy overall, and very little ability to recognize that or care. Too many passed, by design of the department heads. It was saddening to realize that most of them were headed out into the world with indifference to social media processes and little ability to recognize digital manipulation, and to share that indifference with children.
Just a few years ago this generation was walking out of schools to protest our lack of action against climate change. The shift is crazy.
I actually disagree. They’re the same kids. The problem isn’t that this is a different demographic, or even that the same demographic has suddenly become malicious and ill-meaning. It’s that that’s not how they see Trump. They’re not as educated on his past actions, being too young to vote and therefore too young to care during the 2016 or even the 2020 election cycle. They’re bombarded day-in, day-out by news media and social media giving them conflicting information. For many of them, their beliefs boil down to “well, my parents seem to think Trump is good for the economy, and there’s too much other stuff to pick through,” and a single-issue voter is born.
Others are simply tired of standing for morally and ethically good issues, only to be constantly told that, as young men or white people, they’re the issue. When you fight for someone else for so long and are still met with people who blame you for being born just because you seek a deeper understanding (as one 16 year old student in my class recently did when he tried to ask what the problems with Trump genuinely are), it becomes easy to fall into the political sports team paradigm.
And these are far from the only two reasons. But we have to try an understand that the same students who want the environment saved are the ones who vote Trump, because no other option speaks to them.
Secret republicans?
Everyone I know who listens to Joe Rogan is clearly Republican if they aren’t stating it themselves.
Didn’t Joe Rogan endorse Bernie Sanders at one point? The guy seems to be all over the map.
He endorses whoever likes him the most. He’s a moron. And so are his remaining fans.
Someone on Lemmy yesterday insisted that he was actually smart. When I asked for evidence, they mocked me for asking for evidence. That’s the level of intellect we’re talking about here.
Agreed, but, to be fair, what constitutes “smart” is not really objective. It can mean different things to different people and the evidence to back it up may not be acceptable evidence to those you debate.
Yeah, I went through a Rogan phase years ago back when he endorsed Bernie. He definitely was a little controversial even back then. I stopped listing as he got more controversial. I tuned back in briefly for the Trump and Rogan interview just out of curiosity. I was shocked to see how far Rogan has fallen.
For context, I’m a Gen Z man. I’m really disappointed the way my fellow Gen Z men are going.
I’ve gone on my own political journey being raised pretty conservative and becoming liberal as I met more diverse people. So honestly maybe Rogan should have always been a red flag, but I did look up to him for a while. I really wanted him to be a progressive voice, but it’s blatantly obvious now he is just as bad as the rest.
With dumbass hot takes like “You don’t need vitamins. You just need to concentrate about the pump.”
I genuinely think Rogan is diluted to think those things rather than think big picture and make nefarious recommendations. On the other hand though he does hock neutropic supplements, so it’s just confusing to put a label on him. He’s legit uneducated and just parrots smart statements sometimes.
He was friends with Alex Jones for years. He got the entertainment side of him without the crazy dangerous conspiracy theories. Just the normal ones. I don’t hate Rogan. I just don’t find him funny or entertaining anymore. But I also haven’t listened to him in years. Maybe it’s worse now.
I’ve been listening to Rogan since 2017ish and he has totally shifted rightward. I used to listen to every episode because it was usually either funny or informative. Now it’s preachy and just captured by right wing talking points that border on conspiracy theories. My takeaway is that he listens to his comedian friends instead of his more educated guests, which is a microcosm of America. His show is only as good as the guest and subject matter… Neil DeGrasse Tyson? Fantastic. Trump? Problematic. It just comes across that since he is now in the running to be a billionaire with good investing strategy, he is now switching his interests and views to match. If you recognize a guest, definitely listen, but skip over everything else.
My little sister actually dodged a date with one of these chucklefucks only a few days ago. I think they were supposed to meet on Friday for the first time, but she asked if they could meet this coming week because she was slightly freaking out about the implications of the election results… dude straight up admitted he was excited, and that he was a MAGA/MAHA (I had to look that up - apparently it’s “make America healthy again” (???)). Instablocked that fucker lmao.
I wonder how many start trying to hide their magabrain, their magagear, their media diet, etc…for the early part of dating.
If my experience is any indication, they won’t be able to keep their yap shut about it for long, and…welcome to getting ghosted, swiped left on, and just generally having a very, very long dry streak. :)
Any woman who’s terrified by the results needs to adopt South Korea’s 4Ds policy. Let’s see how these incels like an even smaller dating pool.
Secret? What secret? Its been fucking obvious for the last 10 years!
In other words: brainless morons let Rogan take a dump in their skull. It’s like the people that used to let Rush take a giant shit in their heads on the daily.
Remember how everyone was telling us how magical the next “generation” is? Yeah, I wasn’t really buying it, either. I fucking hate that Maher is right about this kind of thing, though.
Maher is right about this…
Maher is an insufferable cunt who just hates all young people. Broken clock and all that… I couldn’t take listening to him even like 4+ years ago, I can’t imagine how much more annoying he’s gotten as he gets older.
I can’t believe he still has a show tbh I gotta wonder who tf is watching him
