A note to politicians hoping to emulate Mamdani’s social media strategy: without the right policies, it’s pointless | Rohan Sathyamoorthy

7 hours ago7 min read1 comments

Zohran Mamdani's seismic victory in the New York City mayoral race represents far more than just another political upset—it's a masterclass in modern political warfare where social media strategy and substantive policy converge to create an unstoppable force. While political operatives on both sides of the Atlantic are frantically dissecting Mamdani's viral TikTok hits and Instagram reels that garnered tens of millions of views, they're missing the fundamental truth: the medium matters less than the message itself.Having cut my teeth in political campaigns where I witnessed firsthand how traditional messaging fails against digital-native movements, I can attest that Mamdani's success stems from understanding that radical authenticity isn't just compatible with social media—it's the platform's native language. Where centrist Democrats have repeatedly stumbled with sanitized, focus-grouped content that plays it safe, Mamdani weaponized concrete policies like rent freezes, free public transportation, and unapologetic support for Palestinian rights into digital artillery that resonated with a generation hungry for substantive change rather than empty rhetoric.This mirrors what we've seen in other political earthquakes—from Donald Trump's takeover of the Republican party to insurgent campaigns across Europe—where candidates who embrace controversial but deeply held convictions generate organic engagement that money can't buy. The Democratic establishment's attempted replication of these tactics without the underlying policy substance consistently falls flat because digital audiences possess an almost supernatural ability to detect manufactured outrage or performative progressivism.Mamdani's digital operation succeeded precisely because every viral video, every meme, every trending post was underpinned by policy proposals that directly addressed the material conditions of New Yorkers struggling with housing insecurity, transit costs, and international solidarity. The lesson for politicians hoping to copy Mamdani's playbook is starkly simple: you cannot separate the medium from the message in an era where algorithmic amplification rewards genuine conviction over polished emptiness. Those attempting to graft social media savvy onto business-as-usual politics will discover, much to their dismay, that digital platforms have become the ultimate bullshit detector—and without the policies to back up the posts, the strategy is ultimately pointless.

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