Mandami ushers in new era of political participation online & on-the-ground with grassroots campaign

Top Story explores how Zoran Mamdani’s viral campaign, from his icy plunge into the northern Atlantic to his expansive grassroots campaigning is ushering in a new era of participatory politics. “TikTok presents a really powerful opportunity for political actors,” explains Emma Connolly, Political Scientist and Research Fellow in Politics & Digital Civic Education at University College London’s Digital Speech Lab. Social media’s blurring of entertainment and politics “can make politics resonate with people who perhaps aren’t so politically engaged.”