The 2024 Presidential Election featured several demographical shifts that played a key role in the outcome of the race.

One significant change now being analyzed came from younger voters who have traditionally cast their ballots for Democrats in past presidential elections. After the group showed a pronounced shift to Republicans this cycle, many across the country are asking what factors led to it.

A major reason for the fluctuation, according to Brent Buchanan, a pollster from Cygnal, is that younger voters are now trusting influencers on sources like YouTube, TikTok, and X for news rather than traditional mainstream media companies.

Buchanan posted data on X from a multi-modal national exit poll conducted by Cygnal revealing who voters under 30 received their news from and who they voted for after using that source.

This election was decided by younger, more diverse voters & online

Our exit poll shows <30 voters got news from:
36% YouTube (voted Trump 48, Harris 48)
35% TikTok (voted Trump 33, Harris 64)
26% X (voted Trump 51, Harris 45)

Smaller Dem margin than pasthttps://t.co/WUTPHX87UY

— Brent Buchanan, Pollster (@brentbuc) November 19, 2024

“We found this was very much a realignment election, driven by changes in key generational and racial groups,” Cygnal reports. “The Republican Party is increasingly multi-racial and working class, with strong support among married adults; the Democratic Party is increasingly a coalition of college-educated and older voters.”

Buchanan’s post also cited a Pew Research study currently being circulated by CNN offering further detail on the topic.

A senior computational social scientist at the Pew Research Center, Galen Stocking, helped explain the shift in trust to non-mainstream sources in a statement to CNN.

“News influencers have emerged as one of the key alternatives to traditional outlets as a news and information source for a lot of people, especially younger folks,” Stocking said. “And these influencers have really reached new levels of attention and prominence this year amid the presidential election. We thought it was really important to look at who is behind some of the most popular accounts — the ones that aren’t news organizations, but actual people.”

Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @ShipleyAusten