What Harris and Trump's social media posts reveal about their focus areas?

With just a few hours left for the voting for the high-stakes US presidential election, people worldwide are trying to figure out who will lead the world's most powerful country. And what might global policy look like under the presidency of either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump?

While a clear outcome is unlikely before Wednesday night, an analysis of the two rivals' social media and public messaging provides some insights.

Data suggests that Trump, the former President and Republican nominee, has expanded his reach among older demographics, while Vice President and Democrat candidate, Harris, has gained traction with younger audiences.

In the past 30 days, Trump led follower growth on X (where he was banned after the 2021 Capitol Hill riots) and Facebook - platforms typically more popular with older and conservative voters. In contrast, Harris gained favour on Instagram and YouTube - platforms preferred by Gen Z and millennials.

Trump gained 8.12 lakh new followers, while Harris added 1.43 lakh on X during this period. On Facebook, Trump acquired 83,000 new followers compared to Harris's 75,000.

On Instagram, Harris garnered 2.87 lakh new followers compared to Trump’s 2.67 lakh. On YouTube, Harris – a woman of Indian heritage – grew their subscriber base by 36.24 per cent or 2.07 lakh new subscribers, while Trump’s channel saw an increase of 1.7 lakh.

In terms of overall popularity, Trump remains well ahead of Harris across social media platforms given that he has been a celebrity even before entering politics. Harris, on the other hand, came into the US national spotlight only after being selected as President Joe Biden's running mate in 2020.

On X, Trump boasts over 9 crore followers, while Harris has just over 2 crore. Trump also leads on Facebook with 3.5 crore followers, compared to Harris's 55 lakh. On Instagram, Trump has 2.7 crore followers, while Harris has around 1.9 crore.

Their focus areas are also evident in their public messaging throughout the election campaign.

FOCUS OF PUBLIC OUTREACH

An analysis of Trump and Harris's posts on X by India Today's Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) team reveals priority areas in their public messaging. Consider these words: 'Christians', 'God', 'patriot', and 'Jesus' from Trump's X posts, and 'GenZ', 'young' and 'migrant' from Harris's posts. These are words that the other candidate did not mention at all, at least in hundreds of their posts on X between September 1 and October 31.

Terms like 'border', 'illegal', 'make America great again', 'history', 'inflation', and 'comrade Kamala' appear frequently in Trump's posts on X. Harris's preferred words include 'freedom', 'middle class', 'tax', 'healthcare', 'small businesses', 'women', 'abortion', 'united', 'Project 2025' (of Trump) and 'families'.