By Aristos Georgiou
Science and Health Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
On Monday night, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made her second appearance in seven months on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and the newly sworn-in congresswoman had some tips to share for cultivating a successful social media presence. During the interview, host Colbert noted that Ocasio-Cortez has been described as a "media virtuoso" compared to many other members of Congress.
"You had a little lesson to teach other members of the Democratic party, to catch them up on social media," the host said. "What were those lessons like? What were you teaching them?"
Read More on U.S.
The New York representative responded by saying that she spoke to party members about her general theory and approach to social media: "So, rule number one is to be authentic, be yourself and don't try to be anyone that you're not.
"Don't try to talk like a young kid if you're not a young kid, don't post a meme if you don't know what a meme is—that was literally my advice—and I said don't talk like the Founding Fathers on Twitter. If you're a mom that likes to garden, talk like a mom that likes to garden, that's all you gotta do."
Colbert then moved on to how Ocasio-Cortez has a good record of responding to people who criticize her on social media: "How do you choose who you go give the business to? Because no free rides, sometimes people might just be coming after you for attention."
The congresswoman explained that there were a couple of different factors involved in the decision of whether to respond to someone or not. "One, is it a notable person. Usually, are they verified, cos I don't wanna just go after some innocent bystander here," she said.
"I think if you're verified on the platform and you have a blue check, you're kinda signing up to this public discourse. So, you got a blue check, [if] you're in my mentions, if you're being sassy in a way that I think is being unjustified, and then if I haven't eaten in two to three hours, it's that combination."
Later on in the interview, Colbert talked about how Ocasio-Cortez and other freshman members of Congress have received a fair amount of pushback from more senior politicians—even those within their own party—advising them to "wait your turn" and "don't make waves."
"Now I wanna ask this question in a respectful manner, knowing also that you're from Queens, so you'll understand," Colbert said. "On a scale of zero to some, how many f***s do you give?"
Ocasio-Cortez responded by joking, "I think it's zero."
...
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines