The fever dream of TikTok Live election results

It takes maine a infinitesimal to fig retired what’s going connected successful this TikTok livestream happening connected the greeting of the US statesmanlike election.

The surface is divided successful two. On the top, a antheral is streaming himself from the thorax up, shouting astatine viewers. On the bottommost is an electoral representation of the US, with each authorities colored reddish (Republican), bluish (Democrat), yellowish (third-party), oregon tan (unclaimed). The antheral appears to beryllium auctioning disconnected the Electoral College.

“Uh oh! Two Texas blues conscionable came in, ladies and gentlemen!” helium shouts, clicking to alteration the authorities of Texas from reddish to blue. A fewer seconds later, Texas goes reddish again. “It’s a cervix and cervix crippled close here!” helium says. “It’s anybody’s crippled close here! Oh! I conscionable got an Arizona blue!”

I yet fig retired that the rules spell similar this: remark a state, on with a bosom the colour of the enactment you want. If the streamer sees your comment, helium volition crook the authorities implicit accordingly. When I tune in, 5,000 radical are watching the streamer click states connected a fake interactive electoral representation connected the website 270toWin. When 1 of the parties reaches 270 electoral votes — the fig required to triumph the presidency — helium resets the state and starts each over. Comments determination in, including a fewer highly concerning ones: “Who is reddish and who is blue?” 1 spectator asks. Another is skeptical of the results they’re seeing: “Is helium lying?”

The 270toWin interactive representation has been everyplace connected TikTok Live this week arsenic the chaos of Election Day has neared. Some streamers play deity with the Electoral College, clicking distant astatine the representation to marque California spell to Republicans and Georgia crook blue. Others purpose their camera astatine a forecast representation and invitation viewers 1 by 1 to articulation the livestream arsenic a cohost and stock their predetermination predictions, which are based connected nothing. I saw 1 watercourse wherever the big endlessly begged radical to comment, like, and different “boost” the stream, wherever they repeated word-salad phrases astir encouraging radical to ballot and enactment successful ideology — portion they besides raked successful tiny amounts of wealth done integer “gifts” sent by viewers. The streams are sandwiched betwixt posts from NBC News and week-old videos of women talking astir a merchantability astatine Ulta — each 1 and the aforesaid to my personalized algorithm.

In immoderate ways, this predetermination has felt tailor-made for a level similar TikTok, wherever dependable bites, in-group jokes, and trends transportation messages much efficaciously than a property league oregon a stump speech. Vice President Kamala Harris’ run launched with an detonation of lime green, which, successful 2024, is not a colour astatine each but a Gen Z rallying call. Harris announced her moving mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, with a video of frenetic leap cuts and glitchy euphony — what the kids telephone a “fancam.” And the Kamala HQ TikTok relationship has spent the past 3 and a fractional months spreading the gospel of a Harris presidency and trolling JD Vance astir a couch, which has been received with adjacent enthusiasm. If the predetermination contented you’ve seen connected your For You leafage feels similar a meme, it’s due to the fact that memes are a viable governmental strategy — thing Donald Trump perhaps knows much intimately than anyone else. We are forced to instrumentality TikTok seriously: the stock of adults getting quality from the level is increasing faster than immoderate different societal media site, according to information from Pew Research Center.

It is possibly fitting, then, that watching livestreams hosted by unqualified strangers with a fewer 1000 followers astatine astir is however immoderate radical are spending their Election Day. On TikTok Live, nearly thing tin beryllium gamified, and frankincense monetized; determination is ever the inducement to nutrient more — but not needfully amended — content. As the evening wears on, I expect to spot many, galore much 270toWin maps connected TikTok, whether they’re showing real-time results oregon the whims of a streamer’s remark section: it’s the casual wealth of the week.

I messaged the streamer to inquire him a fewer questions astir his livestream game, but an hr later, helium inactive hadn’t responded, possibly due to the fact that helium was inactive connected Live. When I popped backmost into his livestream, Trump had conscionable won the crippled for the 45th time.