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 “insiders” aren’t seeing. David Fagan reports
I’m talking about Tik-Tok, the Chinese Government-controlled social media app which has soared in popularity, particularly with young voters who often aren’t 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 “influencers” who grab ephemeral fame.
Miles’ Tik-Tok videos don’t appeal to me – 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 – whether it’s about cheap fares, housing construction or abortion rights.
They’re 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.
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In early August, an American Tik-Tokker Jules Lebron went viral with a post about her make-up which she described as “very demure, very mindful”. 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 government’s approach to women’s right to choose – it was “very demure, very mindful”, 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 “two steps ahead”. Others followed. Then on September 11, Miles stood at the dispatch box and declared not once, but twice that his government was “two steps ahead” on workers’ rights.
And then shared it on Tik-Tok.
If you’re not in the Tik-Tok world, there’s more. He’s recorded 31 Lunchbox Chat videos, preparing school lunch with his daughter but taking the chance to raise other issues.
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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 Premier’s 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 don’t get the engagement of Steven Miles – occasionally he tops 10,000 compared with the regular tens of thousands of the Premier’s.
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 – albeit a bit daggy, but willing to poke fun at himself.
Anyone who’s 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.
I’m 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 wasn’t 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. Miles’ best hope is to reduce the difference, creating a strong opposition. And Tik-Tok might be his secret sauce.
