JD Vance is the Republican Party’s first candidate for vice president in the United States. millennial who is running for this position. His personal blog from 2005 surfaced this summer on X. He was twenty at the time, and in it he described emotional intimacies that now haunt him.

Why is it important?Vance’s situation reflects an unusually candid and vulnerable side of the political class. It represents the beginning of a trend that will continue: politicians who have access to highly exposed positions, as has been described, having to grapple with their digital pasts. Daily Beast.

context. For the first time, a political generation, millennialIt brings with it a digital baggage through which we can access reflections, memories, etc. Even from adolescence and youth onwards, these are unique times.

Youth publications on social networks and personal blogs – today in decline, once glorious – are now under public scrutiny.

What happenedVance’s blog, titled ‘The Thoughts of J.D. Hamel,’ was a window into his most intimate thoughts from his late teens, just before he went to Iraq as a Marine, including musings on movies or personal experiences that displayed emotional vulnerability. It was also updated.

Vance isn’t the only one who has encountered a situation like this:

• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) also faced criticism for some of her social media posts prior to her political career. She has preemptively removed them, but there are those tasked with protecting them.
• Justin Trudeau has also been the subject of controversy over old photos of him in blackface, a theatrical practice that would be considered racist today but would not have alarmed anyone at the time the photos were taken (the turn of the century).
• Kevin McCarthy has also been questioned over past tweets promoting conspiracy theories.

There are examples from several generations ago, but the newer ones have a much larger digital footprint.

in detail. Generation Y They are the first generation of politicians with an extensive public digital background. Certainly much higher than in the following generations: while today it is common to use padlocked networks, private messages and platforms not indexed by Google, in the first decade of the century the panorama was different; without personal blogs and explicit content, with too many filters.

Anyone who has a Tuenti knows this, although Facebook, Twitter or Blogspot were the kings of that scene. They captured unfiltered thoughts and produced extremely revealing youthful photographs of those who now aspire to high office. What was once the personal diary of a young idler eager to convert negative emotions into social capital is now used as political ammunition.

ContrastDigital transparency can be a double-edged sword:

• On the one hand, it humanizes politicians, making them more relatable and authentic.
• On the other hand, it reveals weaknesses and opinions from the past that can be used against you.

Between the linesPoliticians, like professionals in almost every profession, undergo an ideological evolution from their youth onwards, but above all, as their public visibility and scrutiny increase, they become more cautious on some issues.

Previous generations were “only” at risk of an enemy hand or friendly fire obtaining compromising images of their past to tarnish their reputation. Now it’s your own digital “self” from the past that can undermine your desires for the present.

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