In this article we are going to add some arguments as to why TikTok can become an important tool for next year’s electoral campaigns in Argentina, taking data from TikTok as a source. datareportal:
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TikTok and its Chinese version Douyin are among the fastest growing networks in the world. In January 2019 they had 500 million users and currently they have 1.6 billion. This tripling is not comparable to the growth of any other network, for example Instagram went from 1 billion to 1450 million or Facebook from 2200 to 2900 in the same period. The exponential jump of this network is not explained by the growth of networks in general is a special phenomenon
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The segment in which TikTok has the largest audience is clearly youth, 43% of users over 18 years of age worldwide are under 25, and 57% are women.
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Tiktok became the fifth most used social network in Argentina at the end of 2021, surpassing Twitter and only surpassing WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and Facebook Messenger. It went from being in 13th position with 13% of users at the end of 2019 to 56% of users (among people between 16 and 65 years of age with internet access) at the end of last year. A quadrupling of users of the social network in just two years.
These are some general elements that show the exponential growth of this network that, according to several analysts, was strongly boosted by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic as it says Carlos Ballesteros Heritage The short videos, challenges and relaxed tone of TikTok were a good pastime for millions of people during isolation and thus their arrival multiplied.
This network plays a central role in questioning generation Z, which has been pointed out by many studies, I recommend that of IPSOS Argentina, as a sector that sees traditional politics with great mistrust and disenchantment, which has a lot of uncertainty regarding its future. . Traditional media have limits with this segment, TikTok can be a good vehicle to reach them.
The arrival of TikTok should not be measured only with the reproductions and users that are on that platform, the language of this network permeates and moves to many other areas. Instagram, for example, launched its reels feature as direct competition to the Chinese app. Another very common situation is when TikTok videos go viral on Twitter or circulate massively on WhatsApp, the language of this network has transformed the dynamics on all networks.
In the world of electoral campaigns, the exponential growth of this network was noted and it played a central role in several. Some things to keep in mind about electoral politics on TikTok:
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The 2020 campaign in the United States was very much crossed by this network, although Joe Biden and Donald Trump did not open official profiles, there were several events in which TikTok was the protagonist. Trump tried to ban the social network, generating an international conflict that involved the Chinese government, the “TikTok teens” boycotted an act of the former president in Tusla by reserving seats that were later left empty, and the two campaigns recruited and coordinated with TikTokers to reach young people. through this network.
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The Ecuadorian presidential campaign of 2021 had a very striking fact: the main candidates and the general public moved so much to Tiktok that the profiles on this network of the presidential candidates exceeded their followers on Instagram and Twitter. A candidate who measured 2% before starting the campaign, like Xavier Hervas, reached 16% with a campaign with a strong deployment on TikTok that led to the consultants who worked with him being hired for the runoff by the current president Guillermo Lasso.
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In Argentina, the politician who most developed the work in this network is Horacio Rodriguez Larreta, who has almost 500,000 followers and went viral for several of his videos. In any case, it is important to note that the fan account @elpelucamilei, which is mainly dedicated to uploading television clippings of Javier Milei, has more than 700,000 followers, being one of the main political content accounts in the country. (It’s not just challenges, dances or funny videos that go viral on TikTok)
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In Chile, both President Boric and his run-off competitor Kast made TikTok profiles for the campaign with hundreds of thousands of followers each. The right-wing candidate took advantage of this network to make challenges, songs and connect with the youth audience that was pointed out as one of his weaknesses.
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In the recent elections in Colombia, the surprise was Rodolfo Hernandez who entered the ballotage outside most of the forecasts, installed himself as “the old man of TikTok” and has more than 570 thousand followers. His competitor Petro, who has almost a million, highlighted the role that this network has in Hernandez’s growth when he said “Corruption is not fought with TikTok”
These are some elements that I think must be taken into account when thinking about an electoral campaign for 2023. TikTok is an increasingly important tool, more political reach and relevance, there is no single way to use it, there is no single language to work, the worst thing to do in a context of so much uncertainty is to ignore it.
Bachelor of Political Science UBA. Specialist in Public Opinion and Political Communication (@adrianltvk)
Source: Ambito
