Gen Z influencers talked abortion bans, fashion diversity and next month’s presidential election at United Talent Agency’s (UTA) ZCon conference last week.
Brands risk consumer assumptions of political stances when partnering with influencers, according to a study from M Booth that 72% of Americans believe that brands who partner with political influencers align with that influencer’s views. However, ZCon’s influencers feel a responsibility to create political content during “the most important election” of their lifetimes, said influencer Deja Foxx.
The two-day conference was led by UTA’s Next Gen marketing practice, which launched in March as a result of UTA’s acquisition of Gen Z-focused firm Juv Consulting. ZCon worked with brands like Spotify, E.L.F Cosmetics and GoFundMe to host panel discussions on topics important to Gen Z, including the future of work and education, redefining beauty standards and using creator platforms to discuss social justice and political issues.
Among the panelists were Foxx, Kamala Harris’ youngest campaign staffer; Amelie Zilber, a social media activist; and Cameron Kasky, co-founder of March for Our Lives. They leveraged ZCon panels to discuss their political influencing strategies leading up to the presidential election.
Foxx, who has a TikTok following of 142,000, was a 19-year-old campaign staffer for Harris’ first presidential campaign in 2019. For the 2024 election, Foxx moved back to her home state of Arizona to work with grassroots activists and interview the swing state’s politicians.
“I got to live a really big life in New York City, working with iconic brands like Prada and Mac Cosmetics on the creator side,” Foxx told Campaign US. “But I took the opportunity to lend my global platform to create content, interview and amplify these local candidates, local races and organizers on the ground in Arizona.”
Since moving to Arizona, Foxx has interviewed door knockers about Proposition 139, a citizen’s ballot initiative to establish abortion protections in Arizona’s state constitution, and non-binary Arizona legislator Lorena Austin about low legislator salaries excluding people of color from entering political spaces.
Like Foxx, Zilber became politically involved at a young age. At 12 years old, she created TwoMinuteTimes, a newsletter breaking down top news stories for GenZ audiences. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Zilber shifted her political content to video form and has built a Tik Tok following of 6.7 million.
Zilber and March for Our Lives founder Kasky’s ZCon panel discussed the importance of political conversations with influencers, explaining that Gen Z uses social media as a tool to self-educate and cope with difficult political moments.
“A lot of people in our generation are cynical,” Kasky said during the panel. “But if you can take all of this dismal darkness and contribute to make anything slightly better, at least you can have that.”
Zilber, who recently volunteered as a phone banker for Harris’ campaign, added that Gen Z “uses play and lightness to get through a lot of darkness,” which is reflected in her content style; she mixes videos attending Dior fashion shows and makeup tutorials with explainer videos about climate change and mass shootings.
Zilber said her content strategy also aligns with her true self. “I’m multifaceted, as most women are and have been for centuries, even though it’s been shoved down our throats that we’re not allowed to be,” Zilber told Campaign US following the panel.
Critics who don’t take political Gen Z influencers seriously are “going to find a reason not to,” Foxx said, explaining she’s faced skepticism for posting bikini pictures and modeling work alongside her online activism.
“I wouldn’t be interested in doing the political work I do unless I could do it the way I have,” Foxx said of her influencing work. “You can be yourself, be a woman, be feminine and still do this work. If I lost those pieces of myself, it wouldn’t be worth achieving what I have anyway.”
This article originally appeared on PRWeek US.