This post was updated Oct. 29 at 8:25 p.m.

This summer, lime green and punchy synth swept the internet in celebration of pop artist Charli xcx’s new album: “BRAT.” The term “brat summer” became ubiquitous on TikTok and in Instagram captions, with people declaring themselves to be “brat” – or the iconic, carefree ultimate party girl – as well.

Surprisingly, or perhaps not so much so, 2024 presidential candidate Kamala Harris was one of the many declared a “brat” by Charli xcx herself.

So what was Harris, a seasoned political figure, doing in the middle of this pop culture, youth-centric moment on the internet?

The answer to this question lies in a growing trend this election cycle: the idolization of political figures on social media.

Politicians are increasingly treated more like celebrities and less like policymakers whose actions have tangible and immediate consequences on the lives of Americans and others worldwide.

The idolization of public figures is not a new phenomenon, but its frequency online can be attributed to the uniquely democratic nature of social media. Compared to legacy media, such as newspapers, anyone can post anything on social media and potentially reach thousands of people, creating an environment where figures such as politicians are recast as icons.

Jack Thompson, president of Bruin Democrats at UCLA, noted that the commenting features on apps such as TikTok and Instagram give free rein to the public to reshape the political landscape.

“On TikTok, the comments are on the same level as the poster in how seriously the audience takes them. So I think even if the campaigns are making every effort to have their social media presence be as factual as possible – which I don’t think is the case, particularly for the Trump campaign, obviously – … But even if they’re doing that, because of how social media is inherently more democratic in its presentation of ideas and views, it’s a lot harder to have a central fact-checking authority,” Thompson said.

This unrestricted environment makes social media accessible but also extremely malleable. People can comment what they want under candidates’ campaign posts, and they can download videos of politicians and edit them, the same way they would for celebrities.

Ultimately, people can make presidential candidates, and politicians at large, into iconic pop culture figures, without fully understanding what they truly stand for.

Ashley Yoon, a second-year political science student, said this notion is particularly disturbing.

“We shouldn’t idolize politicians just because they’re young and just because they’re some sort of identity,” Yoon said. “We need to know what their policies are because people that are Democrats also have issues with Democratic policies, and we need to be focusing on that.”

Social media often focuses and centers on a given politician’s personality, popularizing who they are. In turn, this emphasis often suppresses other aspects of the politician, such as their policy positions.

Bernard Manin, a political scientist and professor emeritus at New York University, developed a theory of the evolution of representative government that highlights this focus on personality as a critical element of modern “audience democracy.”

“We see this really great, big transformation to a new system of representation where we would pay more attention to charisma, to personal factors, like we treat celebrities – how people idolize Taylor Swift, for instance, enjoy listening to her music and enjoy following her life,” said Nikita Savin, a political science graduate student. “That’s how, according to Manin, we will perceive and treat politicians in the near future.”

While this evolution is not caused by social media, these platforms certainly perpetuate, and perhaps even accelerate, Manin’s theory.

The nature of the algorithm, which pushes content rapidly and pointedly, lends itself to promoting participation in the “trend” of idolizing politicians – which people may be more likely to do after following a politician for their personality or charisma.

When this idolization occurs, especially idolization on social media like we have seen this past summer, we are less likely to understand who the politicians we are voting for actually are.

“When we idolize politicians, we often idealize them,” Savin said.

This idealized version of candidates as iconic – as “brat” – is a dangerous fabrication.

Rather than funneling our desire for political engagement into reposts and comments, we should channel that passion and interest into informing ourselves, or even others, about the policies and political notions that electoral candidates stand for.

As a generation, our commitment to democracy should not just include showing up to vote but voting in a way that is fully informed and prepared.

After all, is nothing more “brat” than participating in democracy?