How federal politicians perform on social media

61 million views across 365 videos on TikTok. This is how often the videos of top politicians, parliamentary group leaders and federal ministries have been viewed on the video platform since the beginning of September. More than half of the clicks go to two accounts: Alice Weidel and the AfD parliamentary group in the Bundestag. There are another 60 million clicks on Instagram. These digital numbers are not visible in the Bundestag, but they have long been shaping how politics is done.

An evaluation of the accounts of federal politicians since the summer break shows that politicians are heard in very different ways online. It is noticeable that, in addition to the AfD's postings, the Left's videos and photos are also viewed a lot. These two parties alone receive more than half of all views on TikTok, while their voters only made up around a third of the votes in the last federal election.

Compared to their electorate, the AfD and the Left Online are overrepresented. One of the reasons for this is that the AfD and the Left publish a particularly large amount. In addition, these two parties rely heavily on attacks on their political opponents online. According to analysis, this is rewarded by the algorithms of TikTok and Instagram.

It's not just Merz who benefits from the Chancellor's bonus

After the AfD, there is a big gap online. When looking at the reach, the party is only followed at some distance by the accounts of its political competitors: Bundestag President Julia Klöckner with 6.6 million views since the summer break, the Left parliamentary group and the Federal Chancellor with almost 5.3 million each.

A look at the comments column for Chancellor Friedrich Merz shows that the many calls are more likely to be due to his high office than to content tailored to social media. The Chancellor's best video with the most views (3.3 million) is about fuel price relief.

But what a look at the numbers since the end of the summer break shows: The Chancellor as a topic - that brings clicks. The most successful video by Left party leader Heidi Reichinneck on Instagram (around two million views) begins with the words "Mr. Merz - if I hear from you again!" and the most successful of the AfD faction, a speech by AfD leader Alice Weidel with more than four million views with "Mr. Merz, the Germans are not too lazy to work more!".

This phenomenon is particularly clear in the most successful video on Instagram since the summer break: 6.7 million views despite a length of 15 minutes is Katharina Dröge's speech in the Bundestag: starting with the words "Dear Mr. Merz, I would like to say to you personally, I very much appreciate your dismay and shock at this terrible election result in Saxony-Anhalt."

A surprising star on the internet

In government, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (CDU) doesn't exactly attract attention with his extraordinary appearances. But it's different online: whether with food tests abroad or recurring videos like Wadephul's reaction to Russian disinformation. His performances with music, well-known memes and quick cuts fit Instagram and TikTok. And he and his team know that: He posted his most-clicked video on Instagram (7.5 million) on October 6th. reposted in similar form.

He is successful: over 300,000 people follow Wadephul on Instagram and 185,000 on TikTok. You like and comment on the minister's videos or send them to others. All of this generates engagement, an important currency on the platform. On TikTok, Wadephul's posts have the highest engagement after Heidi Reichinnek and the Left faction.

What social media does to politics

Social media content plays a central role in the Bundestag and in politics and now makes a significant contribution to external perception. How does this fact change politics? Martin Fuchs, political and digital consultant, has been observing political social media communication for years and says: "This has definitely changed the citizens' image of politics. Because of course, things that are polarizing, that are more acute, are usually big and receive widespread attention, and I think the discourse has changed as a result, both analogue and digital - and not necessarily for the better."

Steep hooks, increasing views: Anyone who hits a nerve right at the beginning of a post generates views. Studies also show this: video clips with, for example, escalations or attacks are viewed on average around 40 percent more often than those without. "The successful contributions in particular are very entertaining and that is politics in very few cases: politics is serious, politics is fact-oriented, and content increasingly falls into the background due to social media communication and that is not the best basis for a functioning democracy."

Criticism of content creation in the plenary session

One person who is at the very top of social media in terms of numbers, but who also often criticizes politics on social networks, is Bundestag President Julia Klöckner. She reached almost ten million people with her videos on Instagram during the period examined. Her work as President of the Bundestag is also in focus.

Nevertheless, she repeatedly says publicly that the plenary session in the Bundestag is for politics and colleagues on site and that you don't have to greet your followers in a speech, for example. Her account also shows that video excerpts from debates in the Bundestag generally work well on social media: In her most successful video of the past few weeks on TikTok (5 million), she admonishes the AfD hecklers during Chancellor Friedrich Merz's speech in the general debate on September 12th.

Bottom line on social media

At the bottom when it comes to the number of followers on TikTok is the Federal Construction Minister Verena Hubertz (SPD). Just over 6,000 people follow her on TikTok. On Instagram she is in last place with Sören Pellmann (Die Linke). Pellmann posts a lot, and Hubertz often takes up current trends and the style of the platform. But Hubertz can't get through the loud competition. One reason for this could be that she is not a well-known face of the government and has difficulty getting caught up in its policies.

Things only look worse for federal politicians who, for example, are only represented on Instagram and not at all on TikTok, such as Economics Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) or Environment Minister Carsten Schneider (SPD).