The most popular person at the first-ever White House Creators Economic Conference wasn’t a TikTok superstar or a YouTube sensation. It was President Joe Biden, who highlighted the role of social media creators in shaping public opinion.
“Until three or four months ago, I didn’t really pay attention to following you,” Biden said, referring to content creators. He said his granddaughter had told him to take a closer look at how social media gives more people the opportunity to reach a huge platform.
“She called and said, 'Dad, you have to listen to these people.' It's you. That's why I wanted to invite you to the White House.”
The president and his granddaughter have a point. According to a Pew Research Center study, about half of American adults get their news at least occasionally from social media, and that includes content creators.
“There are no editors anymore,” Biden said of traditional media. “You want to get your name on the news. You want to get clicks. It’s not always about doing something positive.”
The fact that the White House is hosting a creator economy event is groundbreaking in itself, especially at a time when some lawmakers are having trouble distinguishing between Roku and YouTube. But the White House has been negotiating a growing role for creators in its political messaging. Christian Tom, director of the White House Office of Digital Strategy, has become a VidCon fixture. Biden’s reelection effort (which is separate from his administration and has since been absorbed into Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign) has gone so far as to hire a meme manager to better reach digital native voters.
Biden warmly welcomed creators as he briefed them on important issues like the war in Ukraine and the efficacy of coronavirus vaccines.
Even at the Creator Economy Conference itself, some of the creators who spoke on the panel seemed to echo the sentiments behind legislation like the Children’s Online Safety Act (KOSA). The bipartisan bill backed by Biden would impose a duty of care on social media platforms, but could have unintended consequences that threaten digital privacy and anonymity. White House domestic policy adviser Neera Tanden spoke favorably of KOSA, and creators Lexi Hidalgo and Jackie Aina both said they don’t believe people should be able to remain anonymous on social media platforms.
Biden touched on mental health in his speech, but his most important message to creators was not to take their audience's trust for granted.
“It’s becoming incredibly difficult to count the number of lies that people are being told. They don’t know what to believe,” President Biden said. “I think you’ve made a breakthrough in a way that could change the whole dynamic of how we communicate.”
He then joked that this was why he invited the creators to the White House. “I’m looking for a job,” he said.
The contrast between traditional and new media was evident in the president’s speech. About 100 startup founders, industry stakeholders, and creators (including independent newsletter authors) sat on the floor of the Indian Treaty Room, while media representing traditional media joined the White House press pool in a separate area.
“Is that fake media or real media?” he said. “It was a joke. It was a joke.”
Biden allowed the audience to take questions after his speech, but not the press.
“If anyone outside the press (…) wants to ask me a question, please do,” he said. “I may not answer. I hope I’m not going off topic. I don’t want to talk about what’s going on in foreign policy right now.”
When a member of the press pool shouted a question at the president about Venezuelan politics, the press pool was kicked out of the room until the end of Biden’s visit, which lasted a total of about 30 minutes. If anything, the incident only reinforced the line Biden has drawn between traditional and new media.
“The thing that helps you the most, and I hope you maintain that, is that you are trusted,” the president told the producers. “You are trusted. And that makes a difference.”
