Hi all,
I’ve been to 2 protests so far. The first on 4/5 in NYC, and then the next on 4/19 in Hartford CT.
At both of these, and especially at the Hartford one, I noticed that there was really minimal representation from the younger generation. Just to throw out a ballpark number, it felt like there were really few people there under 30, and even 30-45 felt pretty light.
I think the movement would be a lot stronger if we could get more active engagement from younger people. It would mean more spread on social media, and it could counteract to some degree the inroads that MAGA-ism made with Gen Z in this last election.
Has anyone else observed this same thing? Does anyone else agree with me that it is a problem that turnout from younger demographics is so low? What can we do about it?
I think part of the issue might just be that these protests are not being promoted where young people are. That being primarily TikTok and Instagram reels. Communication around them is very Facebook and Reddit heavy. If there could be some coordinated effort to exploit the algorithms of these short content platforms, it might help stimulate the interest of younger people.
Another thing (and I’m not pointing fingers because it’s not like I’ve helped solve this) is that the information landscape for finding a protest to attend can be kind of confusing. You’ll have 2 different websites saying different things, a Reddit post from a week ago saying something else, and someone on Facebook saying something else. If there was just one single centralized source of truth, it might be easier for people to figure out what’s going on.
I think another part of it might just be a matter of inertia. If the protests feel like an old people club, it might be hard to get some early 20s to take the initiative on their own to show up. I can say that even as a 30 year old, I have welcome but a bit out of place at times.
I don’t know, what does everyone think?
Originally Posted By u/brin722 At 2025-05-07 09:51:30 AM | Source