Comment: Whoever masters social media wins the votes of young people

Instagram and TikTok have had a significant impact on the federal election for the third time. Only those who understand social media can win over young and first-time voters.

Heidi Reichinnek (right, Die Linke) campaigned with TikTok and was successful. Christian Marquardt/imago

In the 2017 federal election, the FDP had the strongest increase in young and first-time voters, in 2021 it was the Greens , and last Sunday the Left celebrated the miracle of TikTok. However, a regular digital presence is not enough to secure the favor of young voters. Anyone who wants to win the social media game must recognize, understand and master a colorful bouquet of parameters. This was never more true than in this election last Sunday.

Authenticity, wide-reaching multipliers and mastering the language of the target group are minimum requirements for a legitimate presence on the social web. But understanding the zeitgeist and making use of it is also essential.

Courage and new formats as a recipe for success for social media

In 2017, when half of Europe was laughing at Germany's completely backward digitalization , the FDP seized on the issue. Education, self-determination, and human rights were also prominent themes in the election program - all points that appeal to young people. As early as 2017, the FDP understood that young people are hardly being reached through print and TV anymore and flooded Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram with election advertising in magenta and yellow, accompanied by short, compelling headlines. New formats were tried out, for example the short-dial program as an interactive 360° post on Facebook.

In a simply produced video from the Hans-Dietrich-Genscher-Haus, Christian Lindner and Amazon's Alexa took aim at political terminology that is alien to the public: "Alexa, what is the Cadastral Update Fee Reintroduction Act?" Between the usual text posts and images from the SPD and CDU, the FDP's ideas were already seen as very innovative. Among other things, this courage to try out new formats and to jump on trends brought the Liberals with Lindner back into the Bundestag . The hard-won popularity among young people continued until the 2021 federal election.

Trends eat election programs for breakfast

In the meantime, however, the public attention of young citizens shifted to global issues. With Fridays for Future and its figurehead Greta Thunberg, a collective sense of urgency for climate protection returned to young people's feeds in 2018. The Greens recognized this in time and knew that they were the only party that could make climate protection a core competency suitable for election campaigns.

With Annalena Baerbock and Robert Habeck, the Greens had fresh, likeable faces for this trend and with the "short video boom" an innovative format. These factors were combined very successfully, especially in Instagram Reels. Annalena Baerbock seemed approachable and credible, she understood her target group and her target group understood her. A simple-sounding mechanism that not everyone has mastered to date. Even today, Olaf Scholz still seems very awkward and strained on TikTok.

With increasing acceptance, the demands of competition increase

On average, however, political communication on social media has become more professional in recent years and is being met with increasing acceptance. As acceptance has increased, so have the demands placed on politicians who want to be successful on TikTok and the like. Young viewers can immediately tell whether a man in a suit is acting thoughtlessly on the advice of his advertising agency when he imitates TikTok trends that are sometimes weeks old, and also whether the digital lifestyle is really felt and whether there is a credible interest in it.

Gregor Gysi takes off a balaclava in a TikTok. This video becomes known on TikTok as "DJ Gysi Face-Reveal" - a viral stunt that older people will not understand. For them, this is the radicalization of young people, for young people, it is a credible approach. Months before the 2025 federal election, you can see "lip syncs" from various left-wing users and left-wing influencers on TikTok.

They dance and move their lips to the following “lyrics.” The text actually comes from a speech by Gregor Gysi:

“The Office for the Protection of the Constitution has at least completely failed when it comes to right-wing terrorism”

“The Office for the Protection of the Constitution has at least completely failed when it comes to right-wing terrorism. They should do their job and protect the constitution. They should do their job and protect the constitution. They should do their job and protect the constitution. They should do their job and protect the constitution” and so on.

An excerpt from Gysi's speech, transformed into a hard techno song, this song is used hundreds of times on TikTok. The producer is DJ Gysi, always seen wearing a balaclava.

Users will see Gregor Gysi in some more videos together with DJ Gysi on TikTok.

The fight against the far-right hits the current zeitgeist among many young people, due to the increasingly present AfD, which has the most followers of all parties on TikTok.

After the 2024 European elections, users woke up in a new digital reality #ReclaimTikTok

The 2024 European elections had already alarmed young people, #ReclaimTikTok is the name of the new digital reality. Migration is emerging as one of the most important issues in the 2025 general election campaign and is almost exclusively reflected in the AfD's policies. The CDU is dropping the firewall, and now every TikTok user will be hearing about Heidi Reichinnek.

Reichinnek became a celebrity thanks to social media. In her angry speech on February 11, 2025, Heidi Reichinnek sharply criticized the CDU under Friedrich Merz for deliberately collaborating with the AfD to push through a motion on migration policy. This speech has been shared countless times, especially on TikTok, and is extremely popular among young people. Months before the federal election, Heidi Reichinnek regularly goes viral on social media. Almost every young person in Germany who has TikTok knows her. In young language, energetic, credible and determined, Reichinnek fights against the far-right and campaigns for the taxation of billionaires, relief for low-income earners and affordable housing. Issues that young people are understandably more interested in than "the economy," the other big issue besides migration. In this election campaign, the Greens have allowed themselves to be critically involved in the issues of the economy and migration, thereby losing young voters to a detrimental extent.

Influencer: More is more

Shortly before the federal election, the Left Party presented a video of various creators and activists who voted left. These included political influencers, some with many followers, who have been posting overly enthusiastic TikToks for the Left Party for months. TikToks with Heidi Reichinnek, Gregor Gysi or from the Left Party's party conference. A highly effective set of digital campaigners that the FDP had no idea about and that the Greens also neglected.

Young and first-time voters still represent a very small group.

It is worth mentioning, however, that young voters represent a relatively small group of voters. 1.4 million are between 18 and 20 years old, and the group of first-time voters comprised 2.3 million people. Over 40 percent of eligible voters in Germany are in the 60+ age group. The older the person, the lower the social media affinity. This group of people is, if at all, convinced by traditional election campaign methods such as polling stations, mail-in mail, and, above all, door-to-door campaigning. The ongoing demographic change is always accompanied by a change in voting behavior. Timely optimization of election campaign methods can ensure influence over the Willy Brandt generation of tomorrow - only then it will be the DJ Gysi generation.

The Left's result in the 2025 federal election was not as surprising for anyone who observed the intensive social media output of the already-dead party as it was for outsiders. Appropriate topics at the right time, authenticity and the courage to test new mechanisms, the effective integration of high-reach content creators and confidently spreading one's own message instead of letting oneself be carried away by topics are just a few, but very important, factors for a convincing and successful social media presence of parties.