Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is Among Us
Over the past few weeks, many people, young and old, gamers and non-gamers, have gone online to play the latest video game craze, "Among Us."
Illustration by Carolyn Burt | The Corsair
"Among Us" is an online multiplayer game featuring astronauts on a spaceship trying to complete tasks while simultaneously trying to find out which player is the imposter and vote them out in order to win.
Many gamers have utilized Twitch streams to share gameplay with their viewers. This past week Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat representing constituents from Queens and the Bronx in New York City, joined in on the fun. Her appearance on the stream led to much excitement among the more than 430,000 Twitch viewers who lovingly support Ocasio-Cortez and what she represents for the American people.
Ocasio-Cortez, commonly known by the nickname "AOC" given to her by her community, has been known to use social media platforms spanning from Instagram to Twitter to share and inspire younger generations. Millions of Americans are resonating with her young and progressive voice through social media, something rare on the national political stage.
Many of Ocasio-Cortez’s greatest moments have been immortalized on her Twitter profile, where she interacts with her supporters while speaking about important issues. One of these instances being her January 30, 2019 clapback to U.S. foreign policy analyst Alex VanNess, a tweet mocking her past as a bartender in order to undermine her current position in congress; “This bartender” has served in a Senate casework office, organized & educated 1000s of young people, earned relevant degrees w/ honors, worked on field campaigns, and the only reason I wasn’t told to run for city council was because I was consistently told not to run at all”.
Branching out from her usual social media diet, the congresswoman shifted gears to the online gaming platform Twitch, where she went online to play the Among Us on October 19 in an effort to inspire and motivate younger voters to go out and participate in the upcoming election on November 3.
Combining one of the most adored members of congress and the newest, most popular multiplayer game brought massive attention from all over the world. She played alongside well known gamers including “cr1TiKaL," “jacksepticeye,” “pokimane,” “hasanabi,” “Myth,” “hbomberguy,” “Corpse Husband,” “DrLupo,” and others. The gameplay was streamed by the various users through Twitch and has since been uploaded to YouTube. This event also gained traction on social media platforms such as Twitter and TikTok, where users have taken to the apps to make fan edits of the Congresswoman’s gameplay, as well as highlight some notable moments from the stream.
Ocasio-Cortez brought not only happiness and entertainment with her Twitch stream, but also awareness on the importance of voting and ultimately her call to action from all those who watched and participated. By playing with these famous gamers, she brought individuals from different sides of the gaming community together and grew awareness of their civic duty to let our voices be heard, no matter what side they are voting for.
Santa Monica College student Karla Arana showed her support in Ocasio-Cortez’s use of social media. “It's great, everyone is connected by social media so why can’t the people who are in charge of our country use it to be transparent with us,” said Arana.
Although the event was mainly to advocate for the need to vote and let our voices be heard, viewers also gained a closeness with a public official, ultimately building trust between the people and politicians.
Ocasio-Cortez is Among Us, having shown that she has the best interest for this county and future generations at mind. She is setting an example for the future of politics and how social media can be used to connect and create alliances.
