Marc Nozell/Flickr (CC BY 2.0) | Remix by Jason Reed

Bernie Sanders joins Snapchat despite having no idea what it is

The Vermont senator called it 'this Snapshot thing.'

Feb 29, 2020, 4:05 pm*

Tech

 Andrew Couts 

Andrew Couts

Bernie Sanders is now on Snapchat—or, as he calls it, “this Snapshot thing.”

The 74-year-old Vermont senator and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate announced on Monday morning that he has officially jumped on the Snapchat bandwagon. 

Snapchat has become a must-use platform for political candidates this election season. Sanders’ closest rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, joined in August. 

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, the third and final Democratic presidential contender, joined way back in March.

[Placeholder for https://www.facebook.com/MartinOMalley/posts/10155370699600393 embed.]

It is the Republicans, however, who have made Snapchat a go-to service for reaching voters. The social network’s young user base makes it essential for bringing on board supporters who might not otherwise be paying attention to politics, especially this far out from election day, which is just slightly less than a year away. That’s a lot of time for self-destructing campaign messages.

Photo via Marc Nozell/Flickr (CC BY 2.0) | Remix by Jason Reed

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*First Published: Nov 16, 2015, 12:50 pm

Andrew Couts

Andrew Couts is the former editor of Layer 8, a section dedicated to the intersection of the Internet and the state—and the gaps in between. Prior to the Daily Dot, Couts served as features editor and features writer for Digital Trends, associate editor of TheWeek.com, and associate editor at Maxim magazine. When he’s not working, Couts can be found hiking with his German shepherds or blasting around on motorcycles.

Andrew Couts