Representative Jeff Jackson is a newly appointed congressman from North Carolina’s 14th district, and he has made his presence known on TikTok. Congressman Jackson takes a unique approach to social media by posting his journey of becoming a congressman in the United States House of Representatives. He prioritizes transparency and impartiality in his videos, often asking his viewers to make their own opinions on the news and events that he describes in his videos.
In a recent TikTok where he details his experience in the House regarding the recent Chinese Balloon incident, Jackson ended his video saying, “All of this presented without comment from me because you are entitled to form your own opinions, but I believe that is the most specific, publicly available information right now.”
Representative Jackson makes many frequent videos about getting elected to Congress or his actions regarding insider trading. Every video is similar in that he speaks directly to the camera, and he speaks plainly and friendly, similar to a friend or colleague. Whether this has played to his success or hindered it, he has amassed a following of millions of people on the platform.
“It turns out being a halfway sensible person and speaking directly to people in a normal tone of voice about serving in Congress is pretty compelling,” Jackson said in an interview with the Charlotte Observer. “I am a little surprised just how compelling it turned out to be.”
Congressman Jackson is one of few other congressmen to utilize a platform like TikTok in order to update the public on experiences in government. To his success, he has grossed millions of views on his latest videos, surpassing two to three million views on his most popular videos, and it looks like he’ll continue making them in the future.
A quick search on the internet reveals that he also has a Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and personal campaign website, but TikTok is a platform that not many other U.S elected officials have. While Jackson is one of very few who’ve seen success with this new platform, it’s doubtful that he’ll be the last, and it’s likely that we’ll see many other elected officials beginning to use other social media platforms like TikTok to reach millions more Americans.