Can TikTok, Instagram influencers help 75-year-old Nato stay relevant, connect with Gen Z?
- Nato invited 16 social media influencers to its Washington summit in an acknowledgement that traditional media may not be reaching Gen Z
Like most 75-year-olds, Nato needs some help reaching out to the younger generation.
The military alliance is this week wrestling with such heady topics as the eventual accession of Ukraine and the ailing health of the octogenarian US president. To stay relevant in the modern era, it has turned to a group of 20-something influencers to spread its message.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation invited 16 content creators from countries including the UK, Germany and France with followings on TikTok, Instagram and other social media platforms to attend its summit in Washington on July 9-11. Another 10 influencers from the US will come at the invitation of the US Defense and State Departments.
The move is an acknowledgement that the traditional media outlets, which are offering wall-to-wall coverage of the summit, may not be reaching Generation Z.
It also shows how long-standing institutions like Nato increasingly need to think outside the box to bolster public support – especially at a time when former President Donald Trump and other Republicans have advocated for the US to cut spending on European defence.
The alliance paid for the content creators’ travel expenses but doesn’t exert any editorial control over their posts and won’t pay them a fee, according to its spokesman Tom Peyre-Costa.
