How social media became a campaign tool for Santa Barbara City Hall candidates

The game has changed.

Your favorite candidates for office are no longer on TV. They are in the palm of your hand. 

While newspapers, television ads and mailers still play a role in campaigns, storytelling on social media has swept up the City Council and mayor’s race this election season. 

At least five of the candidates are throwing up social media pieces with regularity as they look to build a quick brand worth voting for. And if you are at all following the Santa Barbara election on Nov. 3, these messages are showing up on your social media algorithm — not as advertisements, but as narrative content.

A News-Press tally shows that candidates have spent nearly $21,000 on social media campaigns, with those numbers sure to rise by the time Election Day hits. That money is going to content creators helping the candidates shape a brand, not advertising to boost the visibility of a post.

“Social media is a great way to get people’s attention,” said District 4 city council candidate Monte Wilson. “It’s much higher velocity than you get through just print.” 

The video styles vary. Some are polished and professional, while others are simple, selfie-style videos, in which the candidate talks to the camera like they’re chatting with a neighbor. Depending on the scene, candidates may be shown walking up State Street criticizing pedlets, or doting gleefully at individuals talking. 

No matter where you look, social media has become a critical tool in political campaigns. In Santa Barbara, it’s ignited a drive in candidates for Santa Barbara City Hall who are touting their professional resumes and celebrating their neighborhood connections.

Whether filming from their own neighborhoods or the City Hall steps, Santa Barbara political hopefuls are using platforms like Instagram to shape their public image and meet voters where they are. 

Nowhere is this more evident than in District 4, where Genevieve Taft-Vazquez and Devon Wardlow are competing for an open seat. They’ve hired the same content creator, VisionariContent, to produce some of their videos. Although the production styles are similar, each candidate’s messaging is different, with Wardlow appearing alongside elected officials and women leaders talking policy, and Taft-Vazquez highlighting her neighborhood connections and sharing her opinion of previous city decisions.

More than 50% of adults 18 and older get their news from social media, according to the Pew Research Center. With this in mind, candidates of all stripes see social media as a way to reach more constituents, especially young adult voters, in more direct ways.

Being perceived as authentic is a common goal.

With local newsrooms dwindling nationwide and the ranks of traditional media gatekeepers diminished, political candidates can increasingly control their own narratives on social media, said Dan Lane, a professor at UCSB who studies how communication technology is used to create political and social change. 

“There’s a lot less trust in what we see and what we know,” Lane said. “Politicians use that strategically. They can get their versions of events out there, and it opens up the space for their “own” set of facts.” 

The seasoned politicos

Often, the candidates with more political experience appear eager to show it off. On social media, they’ve distilled their lengthy resumes into more digestible short-form content.

Mayoral candidate Kristen Sneddon regularly engages her more than 1,000 followers, touting her policy record and endorsements. In an eight-second Oct. 13 video, she stands beside Santa Barbara City firefighter Mark Kramer as he tells viewers Sneddon’s had the fire department’s back.

A couple scrolls down her Instagram profile, Sneddon smiles on a post detailing her record of support for affordable housing policy. A carousel of images ends with her campaign motto: “A future Santa Barbara can afford.”

Over on Instagram, Sneddon denounces ICE and Sable Offshore Corp. drilling for oil in the Santa Barbara Channel. 

People often use social media to pressure officials and public figures to take stands or clarify their beliefs. Sneddon engages with these types of posts, using them as an opportunity to establish herself as a Democrat.

Wardlow flexes policy knowledge and hammers home her positions on key issues through explanatory short-form videos.

In an Oct. 3 video on Instagram, Wardlow stands on the steps of City Hall between council members Oscar Gutierrez and Mike Jordan. In the video, they both endorse Wardlow.

In an Oct. 9 video on Instagram, Wardlow sits beside affordable housing advocate Lisa Carlos. With a picturesque view of the Riviera and Pacific Ocean in the backdrop, Carlos says Wardlow has “done her homework” and is ready to hit the ground running.

Ian Baucke, who’s running for council in District 5, and Gabe Escobedo, a council candidate in District 6, have Instagram accounts studded with logos of the organizations endorsing them.

These candidates use their online accounts to let their endorsements speak for themselves, which is part of crafting their image on social media.

“Social media has so many opportunities to signal all of the groups that they’re a part of,” Lane said. “Candidates use their platform to attach or own certain identities.” 

Friendly neighbors

For some candidates, storytelling and vulnerability on social media are key to finding votes.

Wilson recalled the departure of his son’s family from Santa Barbara due to the high cost of living, and captured the angst it created in an Aug. 29 Instagram video illustrated with photos of his family and images of him walking on a beach.

“I felt the pain of seeing my children and grandchildren leave and that’s not okay,” said the retired Oracle executive who now owns the Painted Cabernet, a wine and painting studio on State Street. “Santa Barbara should be a place where our children can grow up, build a life, raise families, and stay close to the people and community they love, and I’m going to do everything I can to make that happen.”

Taft-Vazquez, running for council in District 4, portrays herself as being a mom-of-three with lifelong ties to the area she’s representing. 

In a Sept. 1 Instagram video, the corporate consultant is seen walking to the Santa Barbara Bowl with her son while recapping the history of the concert venue. Two weeks later, in a separate video, she is seen attending a local running race with her daughter. 

To launch her campaign, Taft-Vazquez in an Aug. 25 Instagram video, reminisced about streetcars that used to crisscross the Riviera neighborhood in her district. She also notes she was born there and is now raising a family there.

Alexander Stoeber, a council candidate in District 6, links the importance of affordable housing to his experiences growing up homeless and later finding success as a real estate agent.

“I had nothing before I moved to Santa Barbara,” Stoeber says in a Sept. 24 video on Instagram. “I was able to go to school here, and be a part of this community for the past 15 years. Through that experience, I learned that the main thing I want, in four years, is that more people can see themselves in that opportunity as well and have the chance to live here.” 

As of Tuesday, Taft-Vazquez and Wardlow reported paying local content creator VisionariContent $3,600 and $2,350 respectively. Meanwhile, Wilson paid $6,624.50 to social media strategist Madison Moriarty and Stoeber paid $8,000 to production technician Sebastian Schrils. 

How much will that spending — and social media content in general — affect results on election night?

It’s up to the voters — and the algorithm.

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