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At the first ever White House Creator Economy Conference, the most popular man to drop by was not a TikTok superstar or a YouTube sensation. It was President Joe Biden, who emphasized social media creators’ role in shaping public opinion.
“Until about three, four months ago, I didn’t pay very much attention, following you guys,” President Biden said, referring to content creators. He said his granddaughter told him to take a closer look at how social media affords more people the chance to reach a massive platform.
“She called me and said, ‘Pop, you got to start listening to these guys,’ being you guys. And that’s why I wanted to invite you to the White House.”
The president – and his granddaughter – have a point. According to a study from the Pew Research Center, about half of U.S. adults at least sometimes get their news from social media, which includes content creators.
“There’s no editors anymore,” Biden said of the traditional press. “You want to get your name in the news. You want to get a click. It’s not always best to get it by doing something positive.”
The mere existence of a creator economy event at the White House is groundbreaking, especially at a time when some legislators have trouble distinguishing between Roku and YouTube. Then again, the White House has made continued overtures relating to the growing role creators can play in political messaging. Christian Tom, the director of the White House Office of Digital Strategy, has become a fixture at VidCon. Biden’s re-election effort (which is separate from his administration and has since been absorbed by Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign) went as far as hiring a meme manager to reach more digital native voters.
Biden also embraced creators with open arms when he briefed them on crucial issues like the war in Ukraine and coronavirus vaccine efficacy.
Even at the creator economy conference itself, some creators who spoke on panels seemed to echo the sentiment behind legislation like the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). The bipartisan bill, which Biden supports, would impose a duty of care on social media platforms but could have unintended consequences that threaten digital privacy and anonymity. White House domestic policy advisor Neera Tanden spoke favorably of KOSA, while creators Lexi Hidalgo and Jackie Aina both indicated that they don’t think people should be able to be anonymous on social media platforms.
Though Biden touched on mental health in his remarks, his primary message to creators was to not take the trust of their audience for granted.
“It’s literally getting incredibly difficult to count the number of lies people hear. They don’t know what to believe,” President Biden said. “You break through in ways that I think are going to change the entire dynamic of the way in which we communicate.”
He then joked that this is why he invited creators to the White House. “I’m looking for a job,” he said.
The contrast between traditional press and new media was evident during the president’s remarks. About 100 startup founders, industry stakeholders and creators – including independent newsletter authors – sat on the floor of the Indian Treaty Room, while press in attendance on behalf of traditional outlets joined the White House press pool in a separate area.
“Is that the fake press or the real press back there?” he said. “That was a joke. That was a joke.”
Biden allowed audience members – but not press – to ask questions at the end of his remarks.
“Any of the non-press […] want to ask me a question, you can ask me,” he said. “I may not answer it. I’d like to stay on topic. I don’t want to get into talking about what’s going on in foreign policy right now.”
When one member of the press pool shouted a question at the president about Venezuelan politics, the press pool was escorted out of the room for the rest of Biden’s visit, which lasted about thirty minutes in total. If anything, the incident only furthered the line that Biden drew between traditional and new media.
“The biggest thing you got going for you, and I hope you keep it, is you’re trusted,” the president told creators. “You’re trusted. And it makes the difference.”
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