Snapchat Introduces a New Program to Assist Young People in Running for Public Office

Snapchat has spent the last several years attempting to engage its young user base in the political process via voting awareness stickers, polling location tracking, voter registration drives, Discover programming, and other means.

Snap is now aiming to take the next step in civic involvement by encouraging its users to become politicians themselves, allowing them to actively affect political developments.

According to Snap:

“Our new Run for Office Mini is designed to help Snapchatters engage with democracy in an easy, native-to-mobile way. Powered with information from BallotReady, this simple tool will help Snapchatters explore hundreds of opportunities to run for local office based on the issues they care most about - from City Neighborhood Board and Township Council to School Board and State Representative.”

As seen from the screenshots above, the ‘Run for Office' mini presents a variety of vital insights on local political roles, and also explainers on how to nominate yourself for relevant local votes and positions.

The mini would also include contact information for local electoral offices, as well as information on filing dates and signature requirements.

“In addition, Snapchatters will be able to share stickers from this portal to start campaigning on Snapchat with their closest friends.”

That's significant because, according to Snap:

“Snapchatters say that friends were more than five times more influential in their decision to vote in the 2020 election vs. influencers and celebrities.”

Snap is making an innovative push that might assist promote civic involvement at a crucial time, when political movements are gaining traction and people of all ages now have more ways to engage with the issues that matter to them.

Only 6% of US state legislators are under the age of 35, indicating that older politicians are now dominating US politics. Which makes sense because politics should ideally include some kind of life experience. At the same time, younger generations' involvement is required to guarantee that the most fair and beneficial outcomes are achieved, and that everyone has a voice and a platform to be heard at the highest levels of government.

Snapchat is already influencing political trends, according to the study, with Snap inspiring hundreds of thousands of individuals to vote in 2020. And, with a reach of 90% of 13-24 year olds in the United States, it has the potential to significantly increase and strengthen that effort.

Young people are more interested than ever in societal concerns, and they want to have a say. Perhaps this will open the way for the next generation of leaders to enter the political arena.

The new ‘Run for Office' mini may be found by opening Snapchat and scrolling down on the camera screen to reach Snap's in-app games, where the mini will be displayed, or by searching for ‘Run for Office' within Snapchat.