The DNC is more than the Kamala Harris nomination. It's a Gen Z coronation.

Content creators . A “ Hotties for Harris ” party. Plenty of “ Kamala is brat ” merch. These are all signs that Gen Z took over the Democratic National Convention, whether you like it or not.

In 2020, Gen Z voters helped deliver the presidency to Joe Biden. This week, the Democrats have been courting our generation’s progressives in hopes of once again earning our votes in November, this time for Vice President Kamala Harris.

As the Democratic presidential nominee gives her speech Thursday night, she has to remember that Gen Z is watching and ready to follow her lead – so long as she addresses the issues we care about. From my conversations with people at the convention, it seems like she’s listening to the young leaders in the room.

"The vice president wants a lot of our voices to be heard, whether it's on the stage, at the big caucus events or at a lot of events across the DNC," Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., the first Gen Z member of Congress , told me.

Democrats in my age group are cautiously optimistic about what this means for the presidential election. It is abundantly clear that the Democratic Party needs the Gen Z vote to win, to the point that their fervor can come off as a little overwhelming.

Gen Z is officially part of the conversation

Harris may be a baby boomer , but her campaign has worked tirelessly to win back disaffected Gen Z voters who were unenthusiastic about Biden. A big part of that has been influencers .

Multiple Zoomers have spoken throughout the week. Among them are activists like Deja Foxx , a content creator who gave a short, enthusiastic speech at the DNC on Monday night.

“People my age are making big decisions about our lives, and we deserve a president who has our back,” Foxx said .

These content creators are one of the smartest moves the Democratic Party has made in a while. Thanks to TikTok, any sounds and videos recorded at the convention can go viral.

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Generation Z, those born between 1997 and 2012 , may not be watching the DNC on cable, but they are watching on social media.

A third of social media users under 30 get their news from TikTok , according to an Axios analysis last fall, and there are more following along on Instagram and X, formerly Twitter.

Powerful DNC moments young voters can connect to

The theme of this year’s convention is “ For the People, For our Future .” It feels like Democrats are finally realizing we aren’t just the future – we’re the present.

“I love seeing all these young leaders,” Bill Clinton said at the top of his speech Wednesday night. “A bunch of them are coming up after me. They look better, they sound better and they’ll be exciting.”

It seems like Harris already knows this. She has been championing issues young voters care about for years, like overseeing the Office of Gun Violence Prevention and being a fierce advocate for reproductive rights.

Julianna Boye, a Harris staffer, says the energy shift is notable. Former first lady Michelle Obama’s speech stood out because it was so different from the “ when they go low, we go high ” motto she espoused in 2016.

“You’ve seen a shift in the ideology because of the times that we’re in, and I think they did a beautiful job of really describing what’s at stake,” she says.

That shift serves the Democrats well and marks the beginning of a new era in the left’s politics. It also underscores how much of a threat Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is to Gen Z, in particular.

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“This election is everything to Gen Z,” Jack Lobel, the press secretary of the nonprofit Voters of Tomorrow, told me. The group has a booth where they’re giving out friendship bracelets and condoms with an anti-Project 2025 message. “Our entire future rests on this election, and we need to act like it. And young people are increasingly acting like it."

There has been a huge surge in youth involvement. Vote.org , a nonpartisan voter registration platform, saw more than 38,500 new registrants , mostly voters under 35, in the two days after Biden dropped out and Harris jumped in the race. It’s a good sign for the party.

Eyes are on Gen Z this election. We have to vote.

At times, the pressure seems high. I worry about us failing to meet the moment, even though it will affect us through early adulthood. I worry that we will be blamed if Harris loses, despite the effort my generation is putting into Harris’ campaign.

It’s consequential that Zoomers actually vote – something that their peers in the United Center in Chicago are fully aware of.

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“We’re not going to win on vibes alone,” Natalie Fall, the executive director of March For Our Lives , told me. “If we were going to, we’d have a good chance. But we’ve really just got to have those important conversations with youth voters.”

To be fair, both parties seem to be focused on curating their image and riling up the base. At the Republican National Convention, this meant going full-on MAGA. For the Democrats, this means speaking to young, hopeful voters directly. We'll see how this plays out in November.

Fall is right: Winning over Zoomers on social media is not the same as earning their votes. If Harris intends to do that, her speech Thursday night will be consequential for ushering in a new era of Democratic politics.

Follow USA TODAY elections columnist Sara Pequeño on X, formerly Twitter: @sara__pequeno

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The DNC is more than the Kamala Harris nomination. It's a Gen Z coronation.