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Instagram, TikTok, X, Linkedin: where are policymakers and how are they positioned?

The elections are drawing to a close. This is an opportunity to take a look at the presence strategies of policymakers in a world where the number of social media has exploded over time. This explosion has created many new spaces with their own dynamics and challenges.

The summary

TikTok is a difficult network to understand using traditional tracking methods, as followings have little influence on the timeline, with an ecosystem dominated by LFI and RN, as well as Youtubers, media and celebrities, and although the platform's figures (on views and followers) are spurious and biased, it remains powerful in reaching a large audience, requiring simplified formats and messages to be effective.
X remains the political and societal network par excellence , thanks to its unique ecosystem linking journalists, politicians and pressure groups, enabling the rapid dissemination of important statements. It is also home to communities focused on health, agriculture, the economy and start-ups.
On Instagram, the ecosystem is mainly focused on activism with a Renaissance presence. (inherited from 2017 and the young Macronists) For its outdated search engine, convinced and militant audiences, its low capacity for expression and its "past trend" side, it is today a network of little interest for political communication.
On LinkedIn, we identify communities including institutions, business media, politically influential sectors such as health and energy, as well as societal players such as impact movements and NGOs. The network is very interesting for developing an expert discourse for professionals and interest groups.
On Bluesky, we talk to dead accounts and a few people on the left who are still convinced that there is hope for the network.

TikTok

A network that is difficult to understand using the methodology of followings like the other networks, since it is a network where people's followings have very little influence on the timeline.

So we have a relatively organised ecosystem of activists, with a strong presence from LFI and RN. Apart from that, there are Youtubers, the media and celebrities.

It also remains a difficult network to understand in general terms for the simple reason that the figures provided by the platform are completely misleading. Out of a sample of the 7,200 most politically influential people on the network, the person most followed by the others in the sample is 1,000 (and for a total of 57k people, which also shows that few people speak out on Tik Tok and most are spectators). The number of views per video is also heavily skewed. However, even when skewed, the results can be impressive, especially in terms of their ability to reach the general public in a way that no other social network (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) has done before.

The challenge is to find the right formats, the right hooks and to simplify your message to the extreme.

Objective:

Simplifying the way you speak or send messages

Target audience:

General public

X

We start with the historical section, which is also the densest. Despite the storms, X remains the political and social network par excellence. Its unique ecosystem linking journalists, politicians and pressure groups and its open system make it the place for all political campaigns. It remains a network where, in the event of major events, it is possible to make statements that are then taken up directly on the social networks. The reason why other networks are largely behind is because of a limited or inefficient search engine.

In terms of communities, there is a health focus and an agricultural focus outside a political ecosystem. There is also a large economic and start-up community.

Objective:

Talking to interest representatives
Positioning yourself in the media
Raising a subject

Target audience:

Journalists
Lobbies
Activists

Instagram

On Instagram, we will find an ecosystem that is relatively inward-looking, with a focus on activism. Renaissance has a stronger presence there than the other parties (mainly the young Macronists of the time and the 2017 campaign), while the RN has a much smaller numerical presence via its activists. Apart from that, two communities stand out: one on Art / Culture and Regions, which is very interesting, and one with celebrities.

It's interesting because we're going to see that, in reality, museums and regions are largely represented in a community that is regionally oriented. In fact, if you look at the Instagram accounts, they are largely focused on images and tourism.

In the end, however, it has to be said that Instagram is not a very good place for political communication for a number of reasons:

The public is a militant public already convinced. In some cases, this militant public is quite small compared to other networks studied.

Objective:

Talking to activists

Target audience:

Activists

It should be noted that on LinkedIn, the methodology is not the same as that deployed for the other networks (based on the way people follow each other), but is a proprietary methodology that we have put in place to clearly identify the communities around a subject, a community, a theme or a profession. It maps the players using all the link factors that we have identified through our studies of other networks for which we could map the links between players.

You will discover communities with a large number of institutions present, media with economic roots (Stratégies, les Echos, Creapills), sectors with a large political component (Health, Energy) but also societal players. (All the impact movements, NGOs and environmental communities).