Not quite sure how Tik-Tok will influence the election? Get your teenager to explain
Forget the house, but if Steven Miles saves any furniture this election, it will be due strongly to the campaign most of the political āinsidersā arenāt seeing. David Fagan reports
Iām talking about Tik-Tok, the Chinese Government-controlled social media app which has soared in popularity, particularly with young voters who often arenāt even thinking about politics.
I took a tour of Tik-Tok with one of our in-house teenagers who guided me through how the Premier is winning hearts with its audience. His performances are not typically political but more akin to the social media āinfluencersā who grab ephemeral fame.
Milesā Tik-Tok videos donāt appeal to me ā and nor are they meant to. But they do appeal to an audience that feels pushed away by both the performance of typical politicians and the issues they think are important.
The Premier, with the help of a very sophisticated production crew, is posting daily views that are both entertaining and on-message ā whether itās about cheap fares, housing construction or abortion rights.
Theyāre laced with the good humour so often lacking in political communication. But the Premier is also unafraid to use his official platform to surf in on Tik-Tok trends.
You might like
In early August, an American Tik-Tokker Jules Lebron went viral with a post about her make-up which she described as āvery demure, very mindfulā. In the following days, thousands of other Tik-Tokkers used the same phrase catching millions of views.
Then on August 22, Stephen Miles stood up in parliament to describe his governmentās approach to womenās right to choose ā it was āvery demure, very mindfulā, he said in a life-imitating art moment at the dispatch box.
An odd description for most of us but a message delivered by algorithms to the Tik-Tok generation that he was in synch with them.
On September 6, Mikado Avocado recorded 31 million views in three days with a video centered around the catch phrase of being ātwo steps aheadā. Others followed. Then on September 11, Miles stood at the dispatch box and declared not once, but twice that his government was ātwo steps aheadā on workersā rights.
And then shared it on Tik-Tok.
If youāre not in the Tik-Tok world, thereās more. Heās recorded 31 Lunchbox Chat videos, preparing school lunch with his daughter but taking the chance to raise other issues.
Stay informed, daily
He recruits other influencers. @wolfofbrisbane joined the Premier in Post Office Square to talk up 50 cent fares. Mr @wolf has 108,000 Tik-Tok followers, probably with minimal crossover with the Premierās 43,800 followers but the wolfies now know who gave them cheap fares.
Elsewhere on Tik-Tok, David Crisafulli is also ticking his toks. He has 32,800 followers but his posts donāt get the engagement of Steven Miles ā occasionally he tops 10,000 compared with the regular tens of thousands of the Premierās.
My inhouse Tik-Tok adviser and resident teenager explains that this is because David Crisafulli behaves on Tik-Tok like a politician whereas Steven Miles behaves like an influencer ā albeit a bit daggy, but willing to poke fun at himself.
Anyone whoās observed Miles publicly will note the sophistication of the camera crews that precede his appearance on stage, creating the material that can then be sliced and diced across social media.
This is part of the much-derided Labor spin machine but you can fully expect it will not be downsized whoever is in government.
Iām not offended by any of this. Communication is central to politics and politicians need to communicate in the language and through the means of their times. Dr Miles (with a doctorate in political science) is doing this and doing it well. Pity he wasnāt as good on policy.
The polls are not showing the benefit but they may also be missing the Tik-Tok generation which is disinclined to answer an unknown number.
Newspoll at the weekend showed the LNP is on track to hold 55 seats in a new parliament. Below the headline figure is the revelation that only two in three Labor voters think the government deserves to be re-elected. And a quarter of Labor voters think David Crisafulli is ready to govern.
These are difficult numbers to jump over. Milesā best hope is to reduce the difference, creating a strong opposition. And Tik-Tok might be his secret sauce.
Want to see more stories from InDaily Qld in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily Qld as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily Qld". That's it.
