Picturing Madam Vice President on the Campaign Trail: Instagram Narratives and User Fantasies of Kamala Harris

Instagram has become an essential platform for youth engagement and political campaign discourse. This study builds on this strand of knowledge by analyzing how the U.S. Vice President and the Democratic party’s presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, employed the platform during the 2024 campaigns over 5 months by assessing the narratives as well as user fantasies. Findings indicated that the narratives emphasized her administration’s political achievements and positions, her commitment to amplifying every voice, her personal and social identity, as well as global voice and initiatives. These narratives generate two fantasy themes around her personalized leadership style, impact, and ideological positioning. Harris’s campaign discourse on Instagram conformed to the identity expectations of the American electorates and the youth-dominated platform dynamics, positioning her as an advocate for equity.