TikTok and the Extreme Right: Is It Really a Garden of Eden?

The Summary:

• TikTok, with its content-driven algorithm, offers a clear opportunity for figures who are not widely followed by the general public to gain visibility, provided they adapt to the platform’s content style.
• The more you post, the more chances you create for contact points. Therefore, it’s recommended to publish frequently.
• The media narrative is not always well-founded. Gabriel Attal actually has better average metrics on TikTok than Bardella.
• Even on TikTok, the audience engaged by the videos, at least in the comments, largely consists of people who are already inclined towards these views. This is a pattern we’ve already seen on Instagram.
• TikTok allows you to reach a broader public, including adversaries. They may interact less, but they are still reached. This highlights the importance of increasing the frequency of posts to broaden the scope and contact points.

I. Tik Tok: A Political Opportunity

One notable aspect is that a single post with political relevance can lead to a flood of far-right videos on the platform. A clear example is the success of the "Je partira pas"video in both the press and social media.

So, what’s behind this phenomenon? How can it be explained?

TikTok’s Algorithm

What sets TikTok apart is that the content comes to the user independently of the social network connections they initially have on the platform. Old algorithms are typically based on interactions among friends (Facebook), connections (LinkedIn), or the people you follow (X/Instagram), but none of these resemble TikTok, where content is suggested independently of your network.

An Incredible Opportunity to Reach Audiences Who Would Never Follow the RN

This characteristic of the platform provides real opportunities for figures who are considered boring, conventional, or even repulsive to gain visibility among users solely through content that aligns with the platform’s standards.

This opportunity is particularly crucial for the RN in its strategy of rejuvenation and normalization. And Bardella is doing it very well, being extremely active and gathering millions (even tens of millions) of views.

II. Primarily Overactivity

A Below-Average Performance Compared to Renaissance

However, when analyzing the ranking based on their last 100 posts with some equivalents, we see that, except for anomalies like Olivier Faure and Eric Ciotti, Jordan Bardella actually ranks third based on average indicators, excluding the number of likes and shares. This suggests highly active supporters. Interestingly, he also underperforms in WhatsApp shares compared to everyone else.

Overactivity that works and very active supporters

But then, why don't we see headlines like "TikTok and young people vote Attal"? Simply because Jordan Bardella’s strategy is to maintain an extremely intense activity, while others have sporadic and very conventional activities. This allows him to multiply the chances of having contact points with audiences that are distant from his usual circle.

And this is very noticeable in the comments:

• 87% of people only commented on one post.
• 9% of people commented on two posts.
• The rest commented more than three times (with 2.2% already for three posts).

A vast majority have very, very few followers (33% have less than 50 followers). This still concerns nearly 51k users who have commented.

II. For what audience?

I then analyzed the 3 pinned publications to examine the commentators and observable communities by looking at how they followed each other. And the least we can say is that the communities are very, very diverse, and the commentators hardly follow each other, which indicates that the activist base is not orchestrating it. (Only 3,277 connections for 8,166 accounts).

Even so, there is still a clear audience linked to the National Rally: (21% of the accounts, totaling 1,777 accounts).

So does this mean that a wide audience is being reached? To answer this question, I analyzed to what extent these 8,166 accounts followed others outside of their own circles, which led to identifying four communities:

• Media, influencers & sports: This includes TikTok stars, media outlets, and sports clubs like PSG or Real Madrid.
• A central sphere around the National Rally (RN): This sphere connects everything together.
• A much smaller community around La France Insoumise (LFI): This community shows that LFI comments on the videos, mainly by criticizing. This indicates that TikTok allows content to reach audiences very distant from the original sources. We typically observe this on other networks only when it comes to sponsored content.
• A community I’ve called the ‘patriosphere’: This includes accounts closer to Reconquête and Marion Maréchal Le Pen.

This shows:

• That even on TikTok, the audience captured by the videos, at least in the comments, mainly consists of people who are already aware of the topic. This is a mechanism already observed on Instagram.
• TikTok still allows for reaching a broader audience, including opponents. They interact less, but they are still reached. This highlights the importance of increasing the number of posts to expand the reach and touchpoints.

In short, TikTok is a very interesting tool for political communication. Bardella's use of it is smart in relation to the platform and allows him to attract activists and reach a wider audience through numerous posts. However, Bardella is not the top performer on TikTok in terms of metrics, as Attal and Macron have better average performance indicators. But regardless of the metrics, what truly matters is the political objective being pursued, and in that regard, it seems to me that Bardella is better positioned.