As the rising generation of new voters, Gen Z has an abundance of resources at their fingertips, specifically through their personal devices. With the digital age evolving each day, finding a news source or social media account that helps break down everything happening in American and international politics today might seem like a tedious task. However, Instagram has you covered, and here are a few accounts to investigate as you educate yourself on important issues happening today.
1. Covering Politics
You may have already heard of The Washington Post, D.C’s notorious newspaper, but did you know they had an entire Instagram account dedicated to covering current news and issues in politics? Ranging from topics covering the Supreme Court’s most recent cases to potential candidates and their platforms for the upcoming 2024 elections, WaPo’s account specialises in highlighting articles you can read to keep up with everything happening across the nation and in each state as well. Covering Politics focuses on the analyses of campaigns, congress, and more, giving readers the opportunity to dive deeper and learn more on a topic covered by the newspaper.
2. We Vote VA
Looking for something more local? We Vote VA provides followers with access to local Virginia news and politics to keep you in the loop. The account keeps you up to date on all the Virginia news you need, like new laws that have been instated, how and when to vote in the primary elections, and what will be on the ballot this year. You can also find more information of Virginia politicians in the Senate and House of Delegates, and which congressional districts each candidate pertains to, and honestly, it can be hard to keep track of each delegate and their platform. We Vote VA also includes links in their bio with additional information such as election results, congressional district maps, information on the VA Dept. of Elections, and more.
3. Politico
The political newspaper, formerly known as ‘The Politico,’ specialises in covering American politics and policy as well as international political news. The non partisan news source aims to provide reliable and informative news accessible for all age groups and populations. The account also features frequent Q&A’s on different topics or current events, as well as interactive polls, and explanations on matters like SCOTUS decisions and their impacts and other complicated issues. My personal favourite element of Politico is the weekly “The past week in political cartoons” post, where everything you need to know about this week’s politics are illustrated in an eloquent and witty fashion, helping you better understand topical matters.
4. So Informed
So maybe you want something a little easier to digest and less “newspaper-y.” so informed is another social media account run by Brooklyn native, Jess Natale, who helps break down political and social issues ongoing in the US and across the world. so informed features a weekly “U.S News you might have missed this week” and “Good News!” post, keeping followers involved and aware of what they can do to contribute to a cause or educate themselves on an issue, like the wildfires in Maui or Texas’s end to the ‘tampon tax.’ The account also features a Q&A story highlight as well as book recommendations on social issues, election updates, and breakdowns of the “controversial” books attempting to be banned by policymakers.
5. Impact
At this point, you now have a lot of resources to further educate yourself on political current events and how to get started once you’ve registered to vote. Impact is a popular social media account that covers issues beyond the strictly governmental politics, but instead concentrates on social activism and social issues all around the world, including abortion rights and even economic issues like why Sriracha can’t be found anywhere in stores right now. The account aims to be more digestible for its audience while still creating powerful and “impactful” content so readers have more exposure to current events inside and outside of their country.
While there are plenty of other sources to pull your weekly politics updates from, hopefully some of these accounts on Instagram will find their way to your followings and provide you with more information on the intricacies of our social systems.