With the U.S. presidential election fast approaching, celebrities are really starting to take sides. EDM stars are no exception, if Twitter is any indication. Both Diplo and Porter Robinson have made their opinions entirely clear in a few of their recent tweets.
Diplo “Feels the Bern,” according to a recent picture he posted:
— Thomas Wesley (@diplo) January 6, 2016
Unless Bernie Sanders get the nom
— Thomas Wesley (@diplo) January 6, 2016
Porter Robinson, on the other hand, expresses his fears for the future:
a Donald Trump presidency alongside a nuclear-armed North Korea is the scariest most apocalyptic scenario imaginable
— porter robinson (@porterrobinson) January 6, 2016
What’s possibly most interesting about these tweets, however, is not the points of view they express, but the influence they have on their fans. Your EDM points out that these musicians have a massive following on social media (Diplo and Robinson together have about 2 million followers on Twitter) and thus the ability to help mold the minds of their largely youthful fans, for better or for worse.
“Influence is a powerful thing, and must be used carefully,” says Your EDM. “In the case of politics, especially with such an important election coming up, a lot of it will come down to social media, and getting millennials out to vote. Whether EDM producers can help with that remains to be seen, but it’s a possibility.”