While scrolling through my Instagram feed this week, I was struck by the contrast between an AI-generated Instagram reel of a candidate dancing in front of Denny Chimes and a polished campaign launch video. That is when I realized that this year’s SGA presidential race was something worth writing about.
There are three candidates, with very different theories regarding what Gen Z wants from the people in a campus leader.
As a graduate student in the University of Alabama’s Advertising and Public Relations program with a professional background in branding and media campaigns and coursework in political campaigning, I find myself watching this race through a very particular lens.
Three candidates are running for the 115th SGA presidency: Samantha Simmons, Kyle Porter and Aaron Rak. However, from a social media perspective, the race is playing out between Simmons and Porter, and the contrast between their approaches is striking.
Although Aaron Rak is running, his campaign presents a challenge. With a private personal Instagram account, and the late creation of a campaign account during the SGA presidential debate, Rak’s digital footprint is essentially invisible to audiences. On a college campus where Gen Z discovers, evaluates and forms opinions almost entirely through social media, the absence of a visual identity is not a neutral choice, but a missed opportunity. Without building a community and connection, there will be no foundation when voters cast their vote.
Simmons is running what I would describe as a polished, institutional campaign. Reworking her personal Instagram account into a campaign, with currently 3,166 followers, her posts are clean, professional and reflect the image of a future politician. Her campaign pillars and goals are clearly defined under the structure of being student-centered: “lower financial barriers, prepare you for life after graduation, strengthen academic resources, and improve everyday life on campus.”
Her announcement post, which has received over 500 comments and 46 reposts, conveys confidence as a woman ready to lead. She cites three years of SGA experience, from First Year Council to her current role as Vice President for Academic Affairs. She also names concrete deliverables she aims to accomplish in her run. Some of those include aiming to advocate for real estate in Washington D.C. for UA interns, adding parking spaces for student workers and creating a myBama app.
Her imagery is warm, diverse and community-forward. She is not just telling voters what she will do — she is showing them who she is and why it matters. Simmons has built a recognizable look and an emotional through-line and her engagement numbers reflect a community that is not just following along, but buying in.
Porter is running a campaign built on a different brand architecture entirely. He created a dedicated campaign account that has reached 62 followers. His content strategy is video first, with culturally relevant memes, imagery, music and straight-to-the-point verbiage. Through jumping on trends with the monkey and orangutan stuffed animal, to an Iron Man-style clip captioned “Jarvis, search for an SGA President who will listen to students,” Porter speaks the visual language of Gen Z and sparks their interest.
His platform mission is to bring the “student” back to SGA and prioritize perspectives that have been overlooked. This serves as the throughline of his content. His big push is that “The machine is watching you,” and controls SGA, as most of his content surrounds this idea of students truly never having a voice.
However, on his personal Instagram, which operates under the handle “ducknife,” making it difficult for voters to find, he has posted three times related to his campaign. Keeping his personal posts viewable, his campaign content feels completely different than his newly created account. Each post is polished, classy and refined, including a walkthrough video shot around campus and direct, laid-out policy slides.
Though his policy is not noted on his campaign account, he states plans such as lowering the parking costs on campus, establishing a “Student Professional Opportunity Board” for different colleges and aims for SGA to have more open forums for students to have a voice.
Where Simmons leads with credentials and community, Porter leads with culturally relevant content and an approachable perspective. Both are legitimate campaign strategies, and both speak to different voters.
A 2024 Montclair State University study on Gen Z and the election found that this generation rewards authenticity, directness and defiance of norms above anything else in political messaging. Candidates who connected with young voters did so by meeting them on their own cultural norms — memes, informal language and authentic content. Porter’s strategy supports this research. Meanwhile, a 2024 report from the political data firm Aristotle found that Gen Z is adept at spotting insincerity, making them quickly disengage from what they perceive as traditional political rhetoric. Simmons’s polish and poise may be a potential risk as her campaign reads credible to some and as “establishment” to others.
According to the Pew Charitable Trusts, young voters are most effectively mobilized through repeated personal contact and face-to-face interactions. Simmons’ community events, such as “Sips with Sam” and Quad appearances, speak directly to this, and her engagement numbers suggest real resonance with students. While Porter might be meeting students on campus, he is not advertising these interactions.
However, a 2025 global survey found that the use of Instagram and TikTok is effective with Gen Z due to their attraction towards video-first content. Porter is fully using this to his advantage. But Porter’s meme-driven tone carries its own risk. Cultural fluency resonates with those who are chronically online — but when you are running to serve everyone on campus, the question becomes whether that approach also reaches the student who simply wants to know what you will do about parking. Though Simmons’ photo and text approach may limit her reach, she is clear on her objectives and plans that are student and community-centered.
Scroll through both feeds long enough, and the research starts to speak for itself — Gen Z is not fooled by style alone, but dry substance without authenticity and connection will not win them over either. The winning formula is both: real issues, communicated with the right strategy, in a tone that feels human.
With voting opening on MyBama on Feb. 24, UA students have a front row seat to an interesting campaign experiment. Whatever the outcome, the choices will say something larger about this election, and about how a generation expects to be spoken to.
Casey Looper is a graduate student studying advertising and public relations.
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