Securing the Youth Vote: A Comparative Analysis of Digital Persuasion on TikTok Among Political Actors
In the context of “pop politics” and “politainment,” the irruption of TikTok has changed the landscape of social media and become the fastest-growing application among young people. Based on the peculiarities of the social platform’s affordances and the political personalization approach, we explore...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cogitatio
2023-05-01
|
| Series: | Media and Communication |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/6348 |
| _version_ | 1797826141919117312 |
|---|---|
| author | Rocío Zamora-Medina Andrius Suminas Shahira S. Fahmy |
| author_facet | Rocío Zamora-Medina Andrius Suminas Shahira S. Fahmy |
| author_sort | Rocío Zamora-Medina |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In the context of “pop politics” and “politainment,” the irruption of TikTok has changed the landscape of social media and become the fastest-growing application among young people. Based on the peculiarities of the social platform’s affordances and the political personalization approach, we explore the differences between political parties and political leaders in terms of digital persuasion on TikTok in Spain and Poland. This work contributes to the scarce knowledge about the strategic use of TikTok for political purposes. It also attempts to fill the gap in the comparative research into the practical uses of TikTok in different political contexts. The study explores the three classical persuasion appeals—pathos, ethos, and logos—based on a visual, quantitative analysis of N = 372 videos posted on the official TikTok profiles of the main political parties and leaders from January 1st to March 31st, 2022. Differences were found in how political parties and political leaders used TikTok’s affordances as well as in the main rhetorical resource they use to persuade. We noted the use of more rational resources (logos) in the case of political parties and more emotional resources (pathos) for political leaders. Further, the rare presence of the personality in the videos of the political actors (ethos), along with their unusual privatization role, indicate that personalization on TikTok is far from being considered as part of their digital persuasion strategy. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T11:04:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4ea58ba89fa848c3ae3123dfcba89685 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2183-2439 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T11:04:20Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | Cogitatio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Media and Communication |
| spelling | doaj.art-4ea58ba89fa848c3ae3123dfcba896852023-05-16T08:16:13ZengCogitatioMedia and Communication2183-24392023-05-0111221823110.17645/mac.v11i2.63482939Securing the Youth Vote: A Comparative Analysis of Digital Persuasion on TikTok Among Political ActorsRocío Zamora-Medina0Andrius Suminas1Shahira S. Fahmy2Department of Communication, University of Murcia, SpainFaculty of Communication, Vilnius University, LithuaniaDepartment of Journalism and Mass Communication, The American University in Cairo, EgyptIn the context of “pop politics” and “politainment,” the irruption of TikTok has changed the landscape of social media and become the fastest-growing application among young people. Based on the peculiarities of the social platform’s affordances and the political personalization approach, we explore the differences between political parties and political leaders in terms of digital persuasion on TikTok in Spain and Poland. This work contributes to the scarce knowledge about the strategic use of TikTok for political purposes. It also attempts to fill the gap in the comparative research into the practical uses of TikTok in different political contexts. The study explores the three classical persuasion appeals—pathos, ethos, and logos—based on a visual, quantitative analysis of N = 372 videos posted on the official TikTok profiles of the main political parties and leaders from January 1st to March 31st, 2022. Differences were found in how political parties and political leaders used TikTok’s affordances as well as in the main rhetorical resource they use to persuade. We noted the use of more rational resources (logos) in the case of political parties and more emotional resources (pathos) for political leaders. Further, the rare presence of the personality in the videos of the political actors (ethos), along with their unusual privatization role, indicate that personalization on TikTok is far from being considered as part of their digital persuasion strategy.https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/6348digital persuasionpersonalizationpolitical communicationsocial mediatiktokvisual framing |
| spellingShingle | Rocío Zamora-Medina Andrius Suminas Shahira S. Fahmy Securing the Youth Vote: A Comparative Analysis of Digital Persuasion on TikTok Among Political Actors Media and Communication digital persuasion personalization political communication social media tiktok visual framing |
| title | Securing the Youth Vote: A Comparative Analysis of Digital Persuasion on TikTok Among Political Actors |
| title_full | Securing the Youth Vote: A Comparative Analysis of Digital Persuasion on TikTok Among Political Actors |
| title_fullStr | Securing the Youth Vote: A Comparative Analysis of Digital Persuasion on TikTok Among Political Actors |
| title_full_unstemmed | Securing the Youth Vote: A Comparative Analysis of Digital Persuasion on TikTok Among Political Actors |
| title_short | Securing the Youth Vote: A Comparative Analysis of Digital Persuasion on TikTok Among Political Actors |
| title_sort | securing the youth vote a comparative analysis of digital persuasion on tiktok among political actors |
| topic | digital persuasion personalization political communication social media tiktok visual framing |
| url | https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/6348 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT rociozamoramedina securingtheyouthvoteacomparativeanalysisofdigitalpersuasionontiktokamongpoliticalactors AT andriussuminas securingtheyouthvoteacomparativeanalysisofdigitalpersuasionontiktokamongpoliticalactors AT shahirasfahmy securingtheyouthvoteacomparativeanalysisofdigitalpersuasionontiktokamongpoliticalactors |