#125: Hello Europe 👋🇪🇺
The TikTok train is finally running but pretty late
Hi,
you are reading Understanding TikTok. My name is Marcus. I am an internet researcher at HAW Hamburg, Germany. Is TikTok Done, asks the New York Times’ Popcast. Short answer: No! Concerning the struggle with the music industry i point to this piece in The Atlantic. Quote: “TikTok doesn’t need the world’s most powerful record label. And unlike social-media feeds of yore, it doesn’t need very many of its users to create content at all. It just needs you to lean back and scroll.” People on Android phones are doing that for 34 hours a months.
Today we
…welcome the European Parliament on TikTok 👋🇪🇺
…check out its five largest political group accounts 😸
…learn that we are old but trending 📷
Hello Europe 👋🇪🇺
The European Parliament launched its official TikTok account on February 27. One year after it banned TikTok from staff phones (Reuters). And eight days after the European Commission opened formal proceedings against TikTok (DW).
100 days before the 2024 European Parliament elections European politicians and parties are flocking to TikTok. Behind their rediscovered pragmatic love for the platform is their pursuit of the youth vote in June's EU election (Politico). TikTok says that nearly one in three members of the European Parliament are on its app now. But there will be more. And not only in the EP.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he wants the government to open an account on TikTok, with concerns about the far right AfD's strong social media presence seemingly trumping security worries about the Chinese-owned platform (Reuters).
The big question is if traditional parties and their members can find their ways on a platform that brings its own unique codes and affordances for successful communication (compare #100) in a limited and short amount of time. And if they are willing and brave enough to embrace a new style of political communication (compare #124) that fundamentally differs from used practices of the past. Good Read: Securing the Youth Vote.
The European Parliament at first glance is doing a good job. The presenter relates and has a relaxed vibe. The videos are informativ and far from cringe. Yet it remains to be seen if the presenter develops into a persona with a real attribute, if there is an overarching narrative to the account, if there will be more representation of a wider range of European people and if the account will embrace “more TikTok” besides very obvious and aging trends like “We're X, Of Course We Y”. Besides all that i applaud the attempt for its straightforwardness leaving the impenetrable maze of EU websites behind.
The European Political Groups
The five largest political groups in the EP are the European People's Party Group (EPP), the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), Renew Europe (previously ALDE), the Greens/European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA) and Identity and Democracy (ID). What are they doing on the platform?
EPP (1334 Followers 5315 Likes): After 15 not very successful months of tiktoking the European People's Party – a European political party with Christian-democratic, liberal-conservative, and conservative member parties – stopped posting on May 9, 2023. Only one video managed to acquire more than 8k views. Yet the national parties of the group like Germany’s CDU or the Spanish Partido Popular are doing okay on the platform.
S&D (8660 Followers 270.7K Likes): The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) is the political group in the European Parliament of the Party of European Socialists (PES). While PES has just secured the name S&D has posted 134 videos with up to 580.1K views for the most seen video since June 13, 2023. The group is embracing sounds, memes and cats!
Renew Europe (4455 Followers 95.3K Likes): Renew Europe is a liberal, pro-European political group of the EP founded for the ninth European Parliament term. The group is the successor to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) group. Since August 17, 2022 the group has posted 112 videos with up to 513.2K views for their most watched video. Yet again cats, trending sounds, “young people” and funny filters.
Greens/EFA (872 Followers 7124 Likes): Greens–European Free Alliance is a political group of the EP composed primarily of green and regionalist political parties. The account was started on December 8, 2023 after the group had looked for and found a dedicated TikTok officer (of course i sent an interview request). The most successful of the currently 25 videos has 11.6K views and does not include a cat but a dog.
ID: Identity and Democracy is a right-wing to far-right political group of the European Parliament. While i could not identify a dedicated account for the group it is worth noting that individual members of national parties in the group like French National Rally leader Jordan Bardella (1.1M Followers 21.3M Likes) or national parties like Germany’s AfD (compare #123) are TikTok stars compared to the mentioned numbers above.
Top Ten TikTok Presidents
It is important to note that despite the limited scope and reach of the political groups in the EP as seen above individual European politicians and national parties dominate the political game on TikTok. Two out of ten top performing presidents on TikTok are situated in Europe: Emmanuel Macron (4.1M Followers 31.1M Likes) and Giorgia Meloni (1.5M Followers 11.7M Likes).
📜 TikTok users are old
The average TikTok user is an adult over 30 years old. The CEO of TikTok said that in his testimony to the Senate some weeks ago. Obviously nobody listened, so everybody freaked out when PEW published new numbers on how U.S. adults use TikTok and said it again: almost 40% of TikTok users are in their 30s and 40s. Ryan Broderick from Garbage Day made a chart and titled: TikTok Is For Millennials, It Turns Out. People on the platform might have sensed that for quite some time now but several hundred moral panic articles about the kids these days need some rethinking.
📷 Photos are trending
TikTok has launched a new monthly “Trends Digest” series, which will provide an overview of the latest trends that are gaining traction in the app, with additional notes on how you can incorporate each into your content approach (Social Media Today). That makes sense, especially given that the app is getting more mainstream and users need simple and fast ideas on how to produce something. Right now a trend seems to be pivoting to photos, writes Lia Haberman – it further lowers the barrier to entry. So let’s “lean into this format as long as it’s being prioritized”.
🫗 What else?
TikTok Can’t Save Biden’s Campaign (Time)
Inside The Washington Post TikTok Multiverse (Link in Bio)
They wanted careers in tech. They’re stuck as TikTok moderators (ROW)
Unlearning loneliness: How TikTok is rewriting the rules of connection (Mashable)
Music Is TikTok's Past. Sounds May Be Its Future (Wired)
TikTok is getting a new head of global trust and safety (CNN)
Teen Subcultures Are Fading. Pity the Poor Kids. (NYT)
Who TF Did I Marry (WaPo)
TikTok-style short soap operas (Technology Review)
Rage-bait influencers (Rolling Stone)
That’s it for now! If you want to discuss TikTok & politics or pitch your account or ideas if your are a politician just drop me a quick line.
Hello Marcus Bösch, thank you for your Substack! It teaches me a lot about TikTok. And I think it's crucial that we all better understand TikTok since it's probably the most important platform these days through which younger people form their political opinions. Do you think so, too?