NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani takes to Twitch to chat with New Yorkers
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani takes to Twitch to chat with New Yorkers
纽约市长佐兰·马姆达尼（Zohran Mamdani）现身 Twitch 与市民互动
Long before Zohran Mamdani became New York City’s 112th mayor, he understood that if you want to reach young voters, you have to meet them online. Now, in classic Mamdani fashion, the mayor has taken that strategy even further. On Thursday, Polygon exclusively revealed that Mamdani is launching a recurring Twitch livestream series titled “Talk with the People,” premiering on Thursday, May 21, at 4:10 p.m. ET, where he will answer questions directly from viewers through Twitch chat. It will also simulcast across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X, and Bluesky.
早在佐兰·马姆达尼成为纽约市第 112 任市长之前，他就明白，如果想要触达年轻选民，就必须在网络上与他们相遇。如今，马姆达尼以其一贯的风格，将这一策略推向了新的高度。周四，Polygon 独家披露，马姆达尼正在推出一个名为“与民对话”（Talk with the People）的常态化 Twitch 直播系列。该系列于美东时间 5 月 21 日周四下午 4:10 首播，届时他将通过 Twitch 聊天室直接回答观众的提问。该节目还将同步在 YouTube、TikTok、Instagram、Facebook、X 和 Bluesky 上进行直播。
Over 10,000 people tuned in for the initial stream as Mamdani answered questions live from viewers through Twitch chat, creating a rare direct line between a politician and an online audience. A surprise addition to the stream was influencer Moose, who joked with Mamdani and helped him navigate Twitch culture, including teaching him to address viewers as “chat.”
超过 1 万人收看了首场直播，马姆达尼在直播中通过 Twitch 聊天室实时回答了观众的问题，在政客与网络受众之间建立了一条难得的直接沟通渠道。直播中还有一个惊喜嘉宾——网红 Moose，他与马姆达尼开起了玩笑，并帮助他熟悉 Twitch 文化，包括教他如何称呼观众为“chat”（聊天室里的朋友们）。
Whether Twitch is the right platform for serious political conversations is still up for debate, but it did create a relaxed vibe where Mamdani connected with viewers over wanting a Knicks win and debating the best tacos in NYC, with shoutouts to Los Tacos No. 1 and Taqueria Ramirez. There were some serious discussions too, like raising taxes on the wealthy and his push for free and faster public buses, including plans focused on speeding up routes by six minutes.
Twitch 是否是进行严肃政治对话的合适平台尚存争议，但它确实营造了一种轻松的氛围。马姆达尼在直播中与观众交流了对尼克斯队获胜的期待，并讨论了纽约市哪家的塔可（taco）最好吃，还特别提到了 Los Tacos No. 1 和 Taqueria Ramirez。当然，直播中也不乏严肃的讨论，例如向富人增税以及他推动免费且更快捷的公共巴士服务的计划，其中包括旨在将公交线路运行时间缩短 6 分钟的方案。
Overall, it was a good first introduction for Mamdani’s Twitch career, and it says a lot about the changing relationship between politics and the internet. Younger audiences increasingly consume political information through creators, streamers, podcasts, and online personalities rather than traditional media outlets. Twitch especially has evolved far beyond gaming over the past several years, becoming a surprisingly influential political platform where audiences watch discussions about current events in real time, such as influencers like Hasan Piker. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez famously embraced the platform back in 2020 when she joined Among Us livestreams aimed at encouraging young people to vote.
总的来说，这是马姆达尼 Twitch 生涯的一个良好开端，也深刻反映了政治与互联网之间关系的演变。年轻受众越来越多地通过内容创作者、主播、播客和网络红人，而非传统媒体渠道来获取政治信息。过去几年里，Twitch 尤其已经远远超越了游戏范畴，成为一个极具影响力的政治平台，观众可以在这里实时观看关于时事热点的讨论，例如网红 Hasan Piker 的直播。亚历山德里娅·奥卡西奥-科尔特斯（Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez）早在 2020 年就曾利用该平台，通过参与《Among Us》直播来鼓励年轻人投票，这一举动当时广为人知。
In a statement to Polygon, Mamdani said, “By launching the country’s first recurring cross-platform stream hosted by an elected official, where I’ll answer New Yorkers’ questions live on Twitch, we’re opening up a direct line of conversation between our government and the people, especially younger generations who’ve been ignored for too long.”
马姆达尼在给 Polygon 的声明中表示：“通过推出全国首个由民选官员主持的常态化跨平台直播，并在 Twitch 上实时回答纽约人的问题，我们正在政府与民众之间开辟一条直接对话的渠道，特别是针对那些长期被忽视的年轻一代。”
Yesterday, Mamdani teased the move on Instagram with the caption: “5.21.26. 4:10 PM. Live.” Swiping to the next image gave followers a bigger clue with a picture of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous fireside chats, the radio broadcasts FDR used to speak directly to Americans in their homes. The comparison appears deliberate. Just as Roosevelt embraced radio as the defining communication technology of his era, Mamdani seems intent on shrinking the distance between government and the public by showing up where people now spend much of their time online.
昨天，马姆达尼在 Instagram 上预告了这一举动，配文写道：“5.21.26. 下午 4:10。直播。”滑动到下一张图片，粉丝们看到了更明显的线索：一张富兰克林·罗斯福（FDR）著名的“炉边谈话”照片，那是罗斯福当年用来直接向美国民众家中发表广播讲话的方式。这种对比显然是刻意为之。正如罗斯福拥抱广播这一时代最具代表性的传播技术一样，马姆达尼似乎也意图通过出现在人们如今花费大量时间上网的地方，来缩短政府与公众之间的距离。
The new livestream series is on-brand for Mamdani, whose political rise has been closely tied to social media from the beginning. Before becoming mayor, he built a reputation in New York politics as a chronically online elected official. As a New York State Assembly member representing Astoria, Mamdani became known for casual videos explaining housing policy, transit issues, and affordability in plain language. His clips regularly went viral among younger voters who might normally scroll right past traditional political messaging. Over time, Mamdani has built one of the strongest social media followings in urban American politics, amassing a combined over 15 million followers across Instagram, TikTok, and X.
这一新的直播系列非常符合马姆达尼的个人风格，他的政治崛起从一开始就与社交媒体紧密相连。在成为市长之前，他就在纽约政坛以“深度网瘾”民选官员的身份闻名。作为代表阿斯托里亚（Astoria）的纽约州众议员，马姆达尼因拍摄用通俗语言解释住房政策、交通问题和生活成本的随性视频而广为人知。他的短片经常在年轻选民中疯传，而这些选民通常会直接划过传统的政治宣传信息。随着时间的推移，马姆达尼在 Instagram、TikTok 和 X 上积累了超过 1500 万的总粉丝量，建立了美国城市政治中最强大的社交媒体影响力之一。