All eyes were on Donald Trump Thursday night as he accepted his nomination for president at the Republican National Convention. All eyes, that is, except those quickly skimming reactions and hot takes on social platforms like Twitter and Yik Yak.
Millennials, who this spring overtook baby boomers as the largest voting bloc in the American electorate, have long turned to anonymous messaging apps like Yik Yak to voice their opinions and reactions on current events. This week’s convention in Cleveland proved no exception: 5 percent of all messages on the platform this week were about the RNC, including above-average concentrations from users in Washington, Wyoming, Alabama, Ohio, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and West Virginia.
Yik Yak
But contrary to Trump’s “all press is good press” credo, a huge chunk of the electorate isn’t on board with a Trump candidacy.
According to a survey of 4,000 Yik Yak users (of which 98 percent are millennials), only 37 percent of millennials support Trump’s bid for the Oval Office. Furthermore, after his acceptance speech Thursday night, 85 percent of those users said their opinions on the candidate remained unchanged from before the convention.
It’s somewhat better news for other speakers at the RNC, however. Millennials’ approving mentions of Mike Pence are hovering near the 50 percent mark on the platform, especially during his speech on Wednesday.
Yik Yak
Yik Yak
Yik Yak
But naturally, Melania Trump’s speech dominated mentions on Yik Yak, as it did for the rest of the mainstream news cycle. The millennial crowd is particularly attuned to the issue of plagiarism, after years of such lessons being drilled into their heads in school.
Yik Yak
Yik Yak
That said, Yik Yak’s users also found a few specific pop culture references to make the alleged plagiarism incident even more relatable to a younger generation.
Yik Yak
Stay tuned for more Yik Yak insights as the Democrats convene in Philadelphia next week.
