Zahran Mamdani’s campaign is figuring out how to channel the fan base

New Mamdani New York City Mayor campaign Setting a new standard for how Democrats communicate online.

It is this digital savvy and genuine engagement with social media platforms that pundits from across the political spectrum credited Mamdani’s triumphant and decisive win on Tuesday night. From the beginning, his team outsmarted its opponents online, Post highly produced videos Which reached wide audiences.

But that’s only half the story. Much of Mamdani’s online content comes not only from his campaign or the dozens of political influencers invited to cover him. It came from his fans.

Over the past few months, the feeds have been full com. fancamsAnd not only fan art and videos created with Mamda to for him. Traditionally, this form of participatory online fandom has been reserved for celebrities and musicians like Taylor Swift or K-pop stars. The young voters who came out to support Mamdani in droves this week have grown up interacting with their favorites online in these ways, creating something all too rare for the 34-year-old mayor-elect: a fan base.

“They use their experiences from online fandom to do politics,” says Ashley Henke, an associate professor at Xavier University who teaches digital media and online communication. “Those are the skills needed to deal with culture, and that means these are the skills we use to deal with politics.”

Mamdani’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This fandom does not look like a normal political organization. Online, clips of Mamdani speaking at rallies and with influencers are being remixed into tight video posts set to songs from Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind,” from the Broadway musical. Hamilton“Or Charli xcx’s brat. Digital artists have They posted videos of themselves drawing Mamdani In their own styles. Mamdani’s own campaign quips, like the one in which he instructed his challenger Andrew Cuomo on how to pronounce his last name, Edited into campaign anthems.

Unlike many online politicians of late, the Mamdani campaign’s official social media presence has eschewed AI-generated content and focused on popular audio trends, becoming a rare source of material in… Steep-filled feed. While other Democratic officials post online to manufacture credibility with voters, Mamdani says: Voters sayit simply appears. He uses social media with the same seriousness he takes issues like housing and affordability. This approach provides his audience with something tangible that they can interact with online in their own language, creating a community around Mamdani that exists online and in real life as well.

“He has maintained the utmost professionalism throughout the campaign, but he lets the fun roll around,” says Ravi Mangla, national press secretary for the progressive Working Families Party. Which basically supported Mamdani. “He encourages that culture around him, while he himself remains kind of focused on politics, on this campaign, on the real issues that people are facing.”