What my Instagram posts tell me about two of the Democratic candidates for president.
I created five illustrations for a series that I call "Leading Ladies". I was motivated by a New York
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| Elizabeth Warren: "I have a plan for that" |
Times article on the double standard that still forces women to be "likeable" to be elected.
I've posted all five images - of Amy Klobuchar, Nancy Pelosi, the Statue of Liberty, Elizabeth Warren, and Kamala Harris, to my Instagram account.
The response has been telling. Despite the fact that Kamala Harris has more followers than Elizabeth Warren on Instagram (2 million vs. 1.7 million), many fewer people seemed interested in the Kamala Harris illustration than the one of Elizabeth Warren.
A few groups that support Elizabeth Warren asked for permission to re-post her image. Once they did, the illustration got quite a few likes, and more requests to re-post.
Despite the fact that the quality is roughly the same for all of the illustrations, and that I specifically used hashtags of artist groups that support Harris, they never liked the post. In fact, no group supporting her liked the post. Even Amy Klobuchar's image was liked by her supporters.
My intuition about the enthusiasm gap is just that - intuition. I don't have enough data points to run a statistical analysis. Still, I am surprised by the lack of interest from the supporters of Senator Harris.
I "sense", again, I don't "know", that there is an enthusiasm gap between Warren and Harris. And that gap, if real, is important.
In 2016, my nephew Chris, who lives outside of Cleveland, Ohio (my hometown), told me that he saw many, many more lawn signs supporting Trump than Clinton. He saw these on the east side of Cleveland, traditionally a liberal part of Ohio.
Again, I don't have enough data to state with conviction that people in Northeast Ohio were more enthusiastic about Trump than Clinton. Just observation. And that's where intuition comes from - paying attention to things we see and hear.
I've posted all five images - of Amy Klobuchar, Nancy Pelosi, the Statue of Liberty, Elizabeth Warren, and Kamala Harris, to my Instagram account.
 |
| Kamala Harris promises a fight with Trump |
A few groups that support Elizabeth Warren asked for permission to re-post her image. Once they did, the illustration got quite a few likes, and more requests to re-post.
Despite the fact that the quality is roughly the same for all of the illustrations, and that I specifically used hashtags of artist groups that support Harris, they never liked the post. In fact, no group supporting her liked the post. Even Amy Klobuchar's image was liked by her supporters.
My intuition about the enthusiasm gap is just that - intuition. I don't have enough data points to run a statistical analysis. Still, I am surprised by the lack of interest from the supporters of Senator Harris.
I "sense", again, I don't "know", that there is an enthusiasm gap between Warren and Harris. And that gap, if real, is important.
In 2016, my nephew Chris, who lives outside of Cleveland, Ohio (my hometown), told me that he saw many, many more lawn signs supporting Trump than Clinton. He saw these on the east side of Cleveland, traditionally a liberal part of Ohio.
Again, I don't have enough data to state with conviction that people in Northeast Ohio were more enthusiastic about Trump than Clinton. Just observation. And that's where intuition comes from - paying attention to things we see and hear.
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