Understanding US is a video series where everyday Americans explore what divides us and understand what unites us. The series aims to combat toxic polarization by uplifting the diverse voices of everyday Americans on issues related to our divisions. We go across the country to ask questions that provoke a thoughtful, surprising, and/or nuanced response; that challenge biases, dispels misconceptions, and propose solutions to build a less divided America. Typical on-the-street style interview series on social media are often framed in a “gotcha” way making certain beliefs seem outrageous, show contempt at political groups with different viewpoints, and are agenda driven. Our agenda isn’t to change minds, but to seek understandingwithout judgement, and to show everyday Americans have varied beliefs that are nuanced and break stereotypes.
We traveled across the country — red states, blue states, cities, rural areas, everywhere — and asked passersby if they would converse with us. We start with a list of questions we know will engage our audience in nuanced conversation and are supported by research on identity, polarization and the sociology of us vs them mentalities, such as “If you’re a Republican, what is something you admire about the Democratic party? “ We approach each person with curiosity and an open mind, modeling the behavior we want to see in political discourse. Unlike many other political person-on-the-street interviews, our goal is never a “gotcha moment.” Instead, each interaction is an opportunity for the person who has taken the time to talk to us and our community to grow, learn, and better understand each other. We have a process for examining every aspect of the video creative, including copy, thumbnails, format, and structure of the video narrative.
We then also optimize our video natively across every distribution channel from Instagram Reels, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Stories, Threads and Twitter. There is a consistency to our format from creative structure, thumbnails and copywriting. We actively engage with our community, treating the comments section as a laboratory for changing behaviors from those that incite toxic political division to those that are solutions-focused. Post-publication, we measure performance and use that data to guide future programming and execution.
We have published 100+ unique interviews across our channels in 2024 and have garnered 20MM+video views and 1.5MM+ engagements. The clips have driven significant conversation 65K+ comments — allowing our audience to engage in nuanced conversation and hear perspectives from across the country including places like Nasheville, TN, Georgetown, TX, New York City, NY, and others.
We see through the comments section the need for these kind of videos across social media accounts as people are tired of the binary labels that divide us and want more conversation that shows our nuance and what we have in common. We see comments like…
