Suddenly Merz is the new surprise star in the social media sky

Anyone who has scroll through the Federal Chancellor’s Instagram profile in the past few days may have noticed a change. Instead of pictures and videos by Friedrich Merz, how he shakes his hand on other state carriers or holds a press conference with a serious face, a completely new Chancellor can suddenly be seen. Without a jacket and with a direct view of the camera, Merz sits in a light fabric armchair in the Chancellery and reads comments from users. A well-known social media format, of which well-known influencers like to use. But for Merz? New territory.

And not only for Merz: his followers and everyone who otherwise experienced Merz as a serious politician who did not use the common social media trends in the election campaign are also surprised. The Chancellor sits casually in his office, with a tablet on the lap and answers questions from users who arise in the comment column. @Tom, for example, is reminiscent of the Stefan-Raab song and asks: “Do you always do Rambo Zambo in the Chancellery?”, Merz reads the question laughing before he replies to the camera: “I have not yet done a good idea. I will talk to my team about it.”

A total of three videos of this kind are already available on the Chancellor’s account, posted every few days. In it he answers three to four questions, some of them seriously (“What are your plans for Germany?”), Others are deliberately not. “Can you explain your hairstyle?” Merz counters humorously: “Counter question: Is that a hairstyle?” A tone that has not yet been known from the CDU politician that has been controlled and steadfastly emphasized.

“I would not have expected that. At least not if you looked at Friedrich Merz’s election campaign,” says social media expert Marlon Giglinger. The format is well received. A user commented: “Wanted as a quick as in the Oval Office.” The comment gets 7,700 likes – and it is not the only one. Several users give the Chancellor positive feedback. “Very personable” or “Finally a Chancellor, as Germany wanted”, reads among the videos. Merz’s social media team, which supervises the channel, assures that the Chancellor had not seen the questions beforehand and that everything would have answered everything spontaneously. There is also no script.

The Merz social media team also did a great job, says Giglinger, who himself heads a PR and social media agency in Berlin. “The videos are very clearly structured. The framework conditions also fit well. It is good light, a clear sound and pointed messages.” Merz does his job surprisingly well: “He is close to the citizen, does not seem styled and stylish and yet professionally. The format suggests: here is not the party politician, but the head of government.” In doing so, he creates whatever otherwise a few politicians: “On the one hand, he looks very authentic, but on the social media platforms, but still very statesmen. So exactly the balancing hike that many politicians usually do not create on social media,” said the expert.

Parties such as the AfD or the left have already shown how valuable a well-made online presence can be and can even affect survey values ​​and elections. A few months before the Bundestag election in February, the latter started the three “silver curls” campaign with Gregor Gysi, Dietmar Bartsch and Bodo Ramelow to win votes. Most of it started on Tikkok and Instagram. When Heidi Reichinnek followed up with her virally gone speech shortly before the election, the party was successful: from three percent in the surveys, the party for the Bundestag election shoots up to almost nine percent. This success, which is also supported by social media, was perceived broadly, not only in the party headquarters.

Merz wants to use this for himself. He already has a high range because the Chancellor channels were taken over by the predecessor. It currently counts 2.4 million followers on Instagram. Merz can also increase his popularity values ​​“with sure”, says Giglinger. “You can also see this in the positive comments, which positive feedback, in general, the high commitment of his community, his target group. You can also see in the survey values ​​that it is currently well received. And social media certainly contributed to it.”

The survey values ​​are important for Merz. After the Bundestag election, approval for the Union falls, the AfD even overtakes it for a few weeks. The CDU and CSU were able to turn the trend again. Merz also won a month after his election, as the RTL/NTV trend barometer showed on Tuesday. The reason was also the visit to US President Donald in the White House as a success.

However, Merz’s new social media appearance is not necessarily the same as its office. But that’s not the point: it should make the Chancellor more aggravated, arouse sympathy and, in the best case, appeal to the younger generation, from which 69-year-old grandfather is far away. The videos are more about the person than the politician Merz, says Giglinger. Compared to his predecessor, he in any case does a better figure: “If you also compare this with the appearance of our former Chancellor, I think there is a lot of Friedrich Merz in here.” However, Merz is not yet at the level of Emmanuel Macron, who has perfected the game with social networks. “But he’s well on the way.”