Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who captivated millions this week with a monologue on Instagram Live about her siege of the Capitol, shared her social media experience on Wednesday during a master class with her fellow Democrats.
Why it matters: One of the party’s best digital professionals is trying to help the Congressional Progressive Caucus, in particular, to become stronger, sophisticated and prolific so that it can better define policy at the 117th Congress.
- Progressives are feeling encouraged and admit that Democrats’ control in the House, Senate and White House gives them new bandwidth to get their message across.
- Ocasio-Cortez specifically recommended focusing individually on the main elements of the COVID relief bill, because “it’s too much to send messages in a week”
Driving the news: The New Yorker spoke virtually during a Zoom call with more than 140 people, including members and employees of the CPC. She said President Biden’s inauguration was a turning point for the kind of message that Americans want to see from Democrats.
- “We are now in the era of revenue. People now want to see the actual clips of the legislation. They want to hear less about our positions.”
- Axios was able to monitor and annotate the meeting independently.
Inside the virtual room: Ocasio-Cortez acted as a kind of creative director for fellow Democrats who, in general, are not familiar with how to project authenticity on social media.
- She presented a series of videos that Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) Could launch to better share her personality with constituents and talked about how the Twitch streaming platform can be used to imitate a more engaging city hall.
- “We are mere mortals and we have our team to do all of this,” Frankel told her.
- Congresswoman Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) Asked what kind of content Ocasio-Cortez decides to put on her official Twitter account for the Congress compared to her personal Twitter account.
The big picture: Democrats are not just trying to find their best message as a party; they are desperate for strong messengers who can reach more voters by finding them where they are – online.
- The Zoom meeting signals a change within the group.
- Native progressives on social media were criticized by colleagues with the well-known refrain that “Twitter is not real life”.
- Now they are in the driver’s seat, teaching their colleagues how to lean on their personalities to promote progressive policies like the New Green Deal.
What they are saying: The quick response is the Democrats’ biggest opportunity to improve and compete with Republicans, the AOC said.
- Republicans “want to intimidate you and stop you from using your most powerful resource. This is what they do with our party and what they do with our policy, “added Ocasio-Cortez.” They try to make us retreat before the fight. “