The social media general election: The wild ride is almost over - or is it?
ICYMI there’s a lot going on in politics right now, with hotly contested elections taking place in the US, France, Iran…and the UK this Thursday. It’s been a tumultuous month on social media, following Rishi Sunak’s General Election announcement on 22nd May, and most definitely his related arrival on TikTok: “Sorry to be breaking into your usual politics-free feed,” he announced in the first Conservative Party TikTok published just after the election was announced.
In amongst the (quite amusing) anti-tory memes and impressive social stunts (see Jeremy Corbyn revealing to his followers a music video ‘recorded with iconic grime artist’ which turned out to be a ploy to get users to register to vote), one can’t deny the differences in the way this battle has been fought in comparison with previous elections.
The TikTok Election
That’s thanks, in no small part, to some pretty significant social media changes. Not only has TikTok entered the arena in a big way, but the way it, not to mention Instagram and X, now serves content to users’ via “For You” pages or feeds - often from people they don’t follow or know - has changed what and from whom we consume political news, information and opinions.
The ever-evolving organic algorithms have also hampered the success of some Facebook or Instagram paid ads, with many ad campaigns garnering less attention than the content created by individual users, especially on apps like TikTok, which doesn’t allow paid-for political ads.
With that in mind, political parties have flocked to TikTok to try and create organic engagement. And so the platforms have had to respond, with TikTok launching the UK General Election Centre - a dedicated in app space to provide users with reliable and authoritative information as the country prepares to go to the polls. As the election was called UKLabour, UKConservatives and LibDems all joined the channel, perhaps to keep up with longer standing party accounts such as The Green Party and PlaidCymru.
But, in truth, it’s the political leaders’ personal profiles which are taking a leading role in the parties’ communications strategies. Nigel Farage is the (unlikely) star of TikTok at this election; although he can’t claim the success as his own. His platform’s run by a mid-twenties, right-winger called Jack Anderton - not an official part of the Reform UK campaign but a ‘concerned citizen’, who has helped the party leader rack up hundreds of thousands of likes. Adopting Eminem’s ‘Without Me’ as a campaign theme tune leaves me a bit cold, if I’m honest, but evidently he may just be onto something with an overwhelming number of TikTokers pledging their vote in his comments…
Farage-branded content is regularly outperforming material produced by his political rivals and his personal account has twice as many followers as Labour, the Conservatives and Lib Dems combined.
Political Influence
But it’s not necessarily the parties or politicians ‘official’ comms which is having the greatest impact. This summer, it’s influencers that have an ever greater role in shaping political opinions, with a reported quarter of influencers approached to produce party content and over half of UK voters welcoming their ‘organic’ opinions. But, during this election, people appear less willing to share personal political views on social media with an uptick in conversations about politics taking place in private chat groups on platforms such as Snapchat and WhatsApp.
However, we’ve simultaneously seen the rise of the accidentally influential; a wave of young teens, too young to vote, but with important opinions to share. (The irony of the government announcing earlier this year a potential ban on social media for users under the age of 16 is not lost…) None the less, while they can, they’re creating TikToks from their bedrooms covering immigration to knife crime and they’re reaching an audience disengaged from mainstream political commentary. This election it’s the ‘everyman’ who’s changed other people’s minds about whether to vote and who for. Although, some have admitted they have felt encouraged to post the content that will rack up the most likes, regardless of whether they believe in it.
Fake News
And so unsurprisingly, there’s a lot of disinformation swirling around; just this week a study found that posts from ‘bot-like’ X accounts spreading disinformation and hate have been viewed more than 150 million times. Platforms have released guidance for viewers to spot fake content, or AI generated images and audio, with experts encouraging users to look out for surplus fingers, compare mannerisms with real recordings and apply good old-fashioned common sense and scepticism to everything they see.
And indeed, there’s a need to fact check everything we read too; despite what mainstream media write, has this really been the first TikTok General Election? Undoubtedly, it’s a cheap way of reaching a large, youthful audience, it’s still dwarfed by Facebook and YouTube when it comes to audience reach. More than 90% of online adults in the UK use Facebook and YouTube (Ofcom), compared with 48% for TikTok, and as such this is where the parties have ramped up spending. Labour is actually spending almost twice as much on Meta as the closest political party, but Reform’s organic interactions on Meta are still way ahead.
Future of Social Politics
While on one hand I do applaud the appetite and rapid ability to engage and mobilse a politically apathetic audience on any platform, I would question if the last month has demonstrated what’s good, let alone great, about Britain. Personality attacks, factually inaccurate memes and (some) creators prioritising reach over party policies have certainly left me craving travel, food, fashion - even more Euros (the football kind) content - in my feed.
Thankfully, it’s almost all over - or is it? Whatever the result this week, the value of social media to politics has been proven this summer. And that impact is unlikely to be ignored by politicians, parties or the public as a new government settles into Downing Street. Expect #politiktok to continue to grow, policies to be debated in a social space and of course many more clangers from politicians trying to keep up…
But don’t just watch or read; whoever you follow on whatever channels, a friendly final reminder to get out and use your vote on Thursday.
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