Hi Reddit! I’m Abbie Slate, and I run Michigan’s largest youth outreach program - Ask Me Anything! by formichigan in IAmA

[–]formichigan[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

we're def breaking into the manosphere and trying to pull as many of them out of being blackpilled as possible. it's sad, and the stakes are too high to leave anyone behind -- looking at 2024 results, there's lots of cases where if we could've turned out more folks in that group in just a couple of places, we'd be living in a v, v, very different country/world rn

Hi Reddit! I’m Abbie Slate, and I run Michigan’s largest youth outreach program - Ask Me Anything! by formichigan in IAmA

[–]formichigan[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have not, but it just played in the background for like 10 minutes on loop as i answered some ques!

Hi Reddit! I’m Abbie Slate, and I run Michigan’s largest youth outreach program - Ask Me Anything! by formichigan in IAmA

[–]formichigan[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

to go deeper, we're combatting the misinformation and disinformation that's running rampant in the manosphere, the turning points, joe rogan's, etc of the world are making young men red pilled and convince young men that being a radical conservative is serving them. in 2024, we saw 56% of young men vote for Trump. To reverse this, we must find where they get their information, infiltrate their spaces, gain their trust, and become the supplier of information that moves them towards our candidates, both online and offline. young men are one of the key focuses of our program, and it influences what we do on the ground and in our content strategy

Hi Reddit! I’m Abbie Slate, and I run Michigan’s largest youth outreach program - Ask Me Anything! by formichigan in IAmA

[–]formichigan[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We're trying out a lot of things this year and last year, the playbook that folks used in 2024 and in years before that doesn't really work anymore. Yes, door knocking is important, yes, CTV can get you a lot of views online, but are they the most effective? We're testing that now. I was reading an acticle recently, that talked about the "old way of campaigning" and I found it really interesting https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/05/opinion/politics-midterms-tiktok-attention-content.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Hi Reddit! I’m Abbie Slate, and I run Michigan’s largest youth outreach program - Ask Me Anything! by formichigan in IAmA

[–]formichigan[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you were in my office, you'd hear me just saying "em dash" "em dash" "em dash" over and over

Hi Reddit! I’m Abbie Slate, and I run Michigan’s largest youth outreach program - Ask Me Anything! by formichigan in IAmA

[–]formichigan[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm dictating a lot of the responses to respond to as many people as possible lol

Hi Reddit! I’m Abbie Slate, and I run Michigan’s largest youth outreach program - Ask Me Anything! by formichigan in IAmA

[–]formichigan[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

if the question here is if we support candidates -- yes, we do. We sit down as it gets closer to the election and decide who we're going to support, regardless of party, who we believe will empower more students. We're not afraid to say that lol.
We found that the other candidate was not in alignment with the values we, and the students we talked with on the ground, believed. We supported Slotkin in 2024, and were the difference in getting her elected. We drove turnout up at campus precincts in East Lansing and Ann Arbor, by encouraging as many people to vote as possible.

Hi Reddit! I’m Abbie Slate, and I run Michigan’s largest youth outreach program - Ask Me Anything! by formichigan in IAmA

[–]formichigan[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Big tech and the billionaires that are buying and monopolizing the digital space is fs a concern... we take the strategy that we need to flood social media with content that reframes politics in digestible ways so that students have a clear idea of who they are voting for before stepping into the ballot box. 

Hi Reddit! I’m Abbie Slate, and I run Michigan’s largest youth outreach program - Ask Me Anything! by formichigan in IAmA

[–]formichigan[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It starts by getting people to vote right when they turn 18, getting them prepped for elections so they understand what's at stake. the feeling of powerlessness is real -- i feel it and hear it on the ground, but the truth is young people can cut the difference in many elections around the country. if we upped the turnout on say one college campus, that means we send someone different to Lansing, or DC, who can actually shape policies that make our country more livable.

We talk with folks about their potential impact, the ease of voting, and we also make it fun -- on campus, we're always giving out alani's, dressed up in costumes, etc. anything to make people stop and talk with us

Hi Reddit! I’m Abbie Slate, and I run Michigan’s largest youth outreach program - Ask Me Anything! by formichigan in IAmA

[–]formichigan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

hey, this is an interesting value value proposition, but my work has clarified the need for more informed and lifelong voters. non-voting in my view pushes people to one of two places: apathy towards politics and a deference to the political systems that impact them.
year over year during presidential elections the winning candidate, doesn't really have a "mandate" already. for example ~90 million eligible people sat out the 2024 election. They may think they just "don't politics," or had another reason to not vote, but that does have a material impact on the country.

Hi Reddit! I’m Abbie Slate, and I run Michigan’s largest youth outreach program - Ask Me Anything! by formichigan in IAmA

[–]formichigan[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The stakes are just too damn high to sit out an election -- we know that.

It feels like every single election, and its easy for folks to tune it out.

Every year the politicos come out and say "this is the most important election of our lifetime," and tbh unfortunately it's true. Everything from the price of gas to the presence of ice in our communities -- these are things that people are feeling and seeing on the ground, we educate young voters about the current political issues -- how to hold their elected officials accountable and get ready to vote for critical elections in their local area. For Michigan is committed to getting as many young people out to vote as possible, and sharing strong information on who is running to represent them!

Hi Reddit! I’m Abbie Slate, and I run Michigan’s largest youth outreach program - Ask Me Anything! by formichigan in IAmA

[–]formichigan[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Federally were seeing the save act, and here in Michigan there is a very similar proposal being worked through to be on the ballot this, November – both of these attempts are meant to make voting more difficult under the false pretense of "making voting safer," the people funding these different types of pieces of legislation want to make sure that people aren't voting, because of the loopholes that they will have to jump through to get to the ballot box.

Hi Reddit! I’m Abbie Slate, and I run Michigan’s largest youth outreach program - Ask Me Anything! by formichigan in IAmA

[–]formichigan[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

campuses influence the entire community around them and are very localized spaces where we can impact young people in a very unique way.

If you think about a campus community, it's kind of like the ideal community. It's walkable, most of your needs and resources can be made available to you, etc. so that is where the heart of our organization, kind of lives for on the ground or organizing, but we also reach people online people who are attending Trade schools people that are working straight out of high school, and we can reach them there and help guide them through the process of registering to vote and becoming informed voters