TikTok emerges as important part of 2024 According to Pew research, nearly 40% of adults under 30 regularly consume news on the platform.

Since Meta announced earlier this year that it would no longer prioritize political content, TikTok has become an important tool in reaching young voters. It is banned in the USA “TikTok is really the only social media platform where content from campaigns or political groups can be delivered to people who don’t already follow them,” says Kyle Tharp, author of the FWIW newsletter that tracks digital politics.

Both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have embraced non-traditional media like TikTok and podcasts Tharp argues that the shift in 2024 campaigns signals a shift in where and how voters engage with politics. “The types of persuadable voters candidates need to reach are increasingly not consuming news and information on mainstream platforms,” he says. “They don’t watch CNN, they don’t read New York Timesand many instead get their election news from social media platforms.”

TIME spoke with Tharp on Oct. 31 to get her take on the top five campaign moments that went viral on TikTok. The biggest breakout moments for TikTok users in 2024, he says, range from Project 2025’s researched explainers to a remixed song from a Trump debate quote about immigrants “eating pets.”

Harris was nominated

When Harris became the Democratic nominee in late July after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, she received overwhelming support online. “This led to a complete shift in the platform,” says Tharp.

When Biden ended his re-election campaign and endorsed Harris on July 21, the campaign’s TikTok followed: doubled overnightAfter rebranding from @BidenHQ to @KamalaHQ. Users noted that Harris’ mother wrote in May 2023, “Do you think you fell out of the coconut tree?” He embraced meme culture by clipping a quote that reminded him of asking: and making TikTok edits in the neon green signature color of singer Charli XCX’s “Brat Summer” trend.

“There was a lot of news earlier this spring that consistently showed that there was a lot of negative sentiment towards Joe Biden and a lot of positive sentiment towards Donald Trump,” Tharp says. “And that really changed after Kamala Harris became the nominee, and the majority of posts mentioning Harris were positive, while the majority of posts mentioning Trump were negative. And that really remained constant throughout the entire election cycle.”

Harris-Trump presidential debate

September 10 presidential debate There was another big moment between Harris and Trump on the platform. “Millions and millions of people watched the debate on traditional television, but tens of millions of people watched the debate on TikTok,” Tharp says. “Maybe they don’t really care about sitting down and watching a 90-minute TV episode, but they’ll scroll through their feed to see the most popular clips or what people are saying about the controversy.”

Trump’s unfounded claim on this issue Immigrants in Ohio “eat dogs” Tharp became a trending voice as she said videos of Harris’ reactions to some of Trump’s comments were “spreading like wildfire” on the platform.

Project 2025

Explaining content Project 2025This initiative, an initiative by the conservative Heritage Foundation to put forward policy recommendations for the next Republican President, made waves on TikTok earlier this year. The content was primarily in the form of descriptive information explaining the impact of the proposed policies. (Trump distanced himself from Project 2025.)

“From April to June, we really saw tons and tons of individual creators, not just campaigns, but individual creators talking about Project 2025 on TikTok,” Tharp says.

Trump’s McDonald’s show

Footage of Trump serving french fries at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania on October 20 made a big impact. Numbers on the platform. “Trump’s stunt at McDonald’s… His campaign on TikTok really paid off. Tharp has generated more than 200 million views of pieces of content about herself; “This was truly wild and unexpected,” he says.

“Many Americans see Trump as a reality TV star doing cartoonishly weird things, and that kind of behavior really fascinates audiences,” Tharp adds.

Endorsements from celebrities and creators

Endorsements from celebrities and creators Tharp says there’s been a lot of engagement over the last 100 days. The Harris campaign found success by releasing videos featuring Barack and Michelle Obamaand Usher, while the Trump campaign has found success using influencers such as Jake, Logan Paul and the billionaire. Elon Musk.

“Most people go to TikTok for non-political content, and when you can feature celebrities and non-political people in your content, it’s likely to generate a lot more results,” Tharp says.