Dannagal Young

A recent analysis by CNN traces how Donald Trump’s relationship with internet culture has evolved from accidental viral moments into a deliberate, highly effective communications strategy. The article highlights how memes, once unpredictable and grassroots, have become a central tool in shaping political narratives, driving engagement and bypassing traditional media channels. Some of the great insight and perspective in the article comes from Dannagal Young, whose insights help explain why this strategy resonates so strongly. Young emphasizes that memes act as powerful emotional and cultural signals, allowing political messages to travel quickly while reinforcing identity and belief among audiences. What began with moments of internet spontaneity has matured into a calculated approach that blends humor, provocation and simplicity to dominate attention in a crowded digital landscape. “The entire ethos and aesthetic of this administration is spectacle and subversion of norms,” Young said. “You don’t do that through deliberation or argument, but through symbols.”  Her perspective, as presented in the CNN article, underscores a broader shift: political influence is increasingly shaped by content that feels native to the internet, where relatability, repetition and shareability often matter more than traditional policy-driven messaging. ABOUT DANNAGAL G. YOUNG Dannagal G. Young is a Professor of Communication and Political Science at the University of Delaware where she studies the content, audience and effects of nontraditional political information. She has published over sixty academic articles and book chapters on the content, psychology and effects of political information, satire and misinformation. 

New data from the Center for Political Communication (CPC) at the University of Delaware shows many Americans have little trust in either Elon Musk or the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). In a nationally-representative sample of 1,600 adult Americans surveyed by YouGov between February 27 and March 5, 2025, CPC researchers asked how much trust respondents had in various people and institutions, including Elon Musk, the Department of Government Efficiency, and President Trump. Among the key findings: 25% of Americans report having “a lot” or “a great deal” of trust in Elon Musk 26% report having “a lot” or “a great deal” of trust in Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 33% report having “a lot” or “a great deal” of trust in President Donald Trump. About half of Republicans report “a lot” or “a great deal” of trust in either (compared to 70% of Republicans who report “a lot” or “a great deal” of trust in President Trump). Among independent voters, only 11% report “a lot” or “a great deal” of trust in Musk and 13% in DOGE. “As constituents in Republican districts learn about and voice concerns about DOGE’s cuts to Veteran’s Affairs, The National Institutes of Health, National Parks, and the Federal Aviation Administration, it will be interesting to see how public trust in Musk and DOGE may be affected,” said Dr. Dannagal Young, Director of the Center for Political Communication and one of the authors of the survey. “Understanding public sentiment about these unique government entities is essential to help ensure that elected officials are responsive to voter concerns." Visit the CPC's website for full results of the survey. To connect with Young for an interview, visit her profile and click the contact button.

Meta moving away from fact-checking towards a "community notes" model is the equivalent of crowd-sourcing truth, says the University of Delaware's Dannagal Young. This shift in policy is a victory for intuition, common sense and lived experience over data, expertise and evidence. It also stands as another example of media institutions acting preemptively to avoid political and economic fallout under the incoming administration. Young, director of UD's Center for Political Communication and professor of communication, can talk about epistemology (how people understand the world) and how it relates to populism and populist leaders like incoming President Donald Trump. Young can also discuss the following: The contents of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's announcement video, in which he explains that recent elections mark a "cultural tipping point" in the direction of "free speech." "He's acknowledging that this policy change isn't a principled stance Meta is now taking, as much as a response to what he thinks the public is calling for (a dubious conclusion to draw from a narrow electoral victory)," Young said. Zuckerberg's new stance, and how it will allow him to curry favor with the incoming administration because it allows Meta to avoid having to moderate Trump-friendly content. Why content moderation and fact checking are expensive, and how moving away from that model is a "WIN-WIN-WIN for Meta: politically, culturally, and economically. And a LOSE LOSE LOSE for the American people: socially, culturally, and democratically," Young said.