Social media mavens now serve as mentors in the digital world
In the ever-expanding digital landscape, managing the various public segments has become a daunting task. This is particularly true as the federal government of Germany takes a leap into the unexplored territory of TikTok, a platform largely untouched by democratic parties.
The Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his team have recently launched a TikTok account named @teambundeskanzler, marking a significant shift in political communication. However, this move presents a unique challenge: maintaining message control, authenticity, and engaging a young audience on a rapidly evolving, informal platform.
Carline Mohr, an industry colleague, has called for calm regarding this new venture. She emphasises the importance of letting social media experts do their job, and avoiding public evaluations. The platform itself is complex to navigate, especially for political communication, and there's no recipe for going viral.
The trend on TikTok leans towards the more unexpected the content, the greater the chance it will gain traction. This requires courage and a willingness to experiment with various content formats, such as bashing other parties or politicians, behind-the-scenes looks, Q&A sessions, TikTok lives, street polls, explanatory videos, joining trends, or sharing speech excerpts.
Understanding how videos go viral on TikTok, the effectiveness of hooks, and how TikTok plays out videos is a technical and scientific endeavour. It's also important to note that everyone who is online consumes content differently, leading to a loss of control. Every person evaluates produced content differently and subjectively, leading to varying opinions.
As democratic parties strive to establish digital legitimacy, they must navigate this complex platform with care. The decreasing relevance of meta-platforms like Instagram and Facebook is a cause for concern, as TikTok continues to gain popularity among younger demographics.
It's crucial to remember that social media in political communication has no right or wrong. It's not a statistical calculation with only right or wrong answers. Instead, it's a dynamic, ever-changing landscape that requires careful navigation, courage, and a willingness to adapt.
Many people who have experience with social media are being hailed as TikTok experts. However, it's important to approach these platforms with a strategic view, broadening our perspective to ensure that we're making the most of this new frontier in political communication.
