Is Polis stuck in digital hell?
LOLcow
noun | ˈlōl-,kau̇
Someone the internet deems ok to bully, “milked” endlessly for cheap laughs and trolling opportunities.
A target of harassment, who oftentimes is unaware it’s happening or chooses to ignore it despite its ubiquitousness.
As far as politicians go, Gov. Jared Polis is really online. On a technical level, he’s crushing it – or his social media team is crushing it. If he’s on the news, it’s clipped and uploaded that day. They use trending audio. They jump on trends. Polis looks relatable. It’s fun! In a vacuum, his content game is strong.
Even so, that hasn’t translated into support. Don’t get me wrong, he has tons of likes and shares and such. But if you pop into his comment section, you’ll realize Polis’ posts are plagued by criticism, grievances, cusses, curses, and the occasional slur.
Take this TikTok for example. In mid-July, he posted a video on Instagram criticizing the four CO House Republicans who voted for the Big Beautiful Bill. He used the trending Charli XCX song, “Girl, so confusing featuring Lorde” to format the video. Perfect, 10/10, no notes. Below are the most liked comments:
coming from the man who has put colorado into a huge deficit
Worst Governor ever! You’ve destroyed this state!
Polis takes his COVID and flu shot and posts the photos on X.
Hi, I'll add you to my list – account named Moron Finder
I'm glad you got your Covid shot. There is a hope that myocarditis will do its thing.
A post in September for Hispanic Heritage Month on Facebook.
So it’s ok to have a European heritage month?
Where's American flag?
A small but dedicated group of accounts (especially on X) consistently reply to nearly everything Governor Polis posts on his official or personal account. They repeatedly post the same AI-generated image of him wearing a shirt with an ableist slur, share photos of him eating accompanied by fatphobic comments, and some fringe accounts reply with antisemitic and xenophobic statements. These accounts usually stay in the recesses of the internet, but once it’s become customary to troll, all of a sudden they’re among the crowd.
Admittedly, it’s not every post and not every comment. You’ll find some praises for the Governor, like regarding his genuine interest to engage with Hispanic Heritage Month. And not all criticism is hate. Some comments call out Colorado’s relationship with ICE or accuse him of not fighting against Trump hard enough.
Online audiences, of course, don’t represent the broader voting base (no matter what anyone says). Less than half the population votes, and of that group, an even smaller fraction follows Polis online. Somewhere between 68,000 and 187,000 people follow him across platforms, out of nearly six million Coloradans.
But that smaller group has disproportionate access to him. People are frustrated with the state of things. They log on and are immediately confronted with the same messages that remind them how powerless or demoralized they feel.
It’s become digitally acceptable to use a politician’s online persona as an effigy for frustration. Polis’s posts have become the place they direct that anger, as if they’re speaking to him, speaking to power.
If I were a betting man, I’d say Polis used to check his comments but probably stopped doing that a while ago. But his team has to, right? They track metrics and see notifications (unless they’ve muted them). And maybe because deleting troll comments tends to invite more trolls, or because blocking users as a public servant falls into legal gray areas, they just let it all roll through. (I think that’s the right choice btw)
He’s definitely being harassed. I’m sure he and his team know. But they are choosing to ignore it. The harassment isn’t likely to stop, at least not while he’s governor – which is a phrase I’m hearing a lot these days.
So is Polis a LOLcow?
My answer is yes.
Hector Salas-Gallegos, Digital Engagement Manager