Political communication on TikTok. An analysis of Marcelo Ebrard’s account during the presidential nomination race in Mexico

Abstract

Political actors have started to include TikTok in their political communication strategies. Marcelo Ebrard, former foreign minister of Mexico and aspiring presidential candidate in the analysed period, is an example. The politician used the social media to promote his accomplishments during his term in office and, above all, as a tool to boost his candidacy. The personalism inherent to TikTok's uses allowed Ebrard to design a communication campaign focused on his image, given the lack of express support from his party and the Mexican president. The aim of the research is to assess to what extent the alignment with TikTok's specific codes leads to a successful political communication strategy. For this purpose, a sample was selected from the opening of the account in August 2021 to November 2022, a moment within the framework of the presidential candidacy race. Multimodal content analysis, involving quantitative and qualitative techniques, was used to relate engagement to ten variables corresponding to communication techniques. Research results show that the growing adjustment to the uses and possibilities of TikTok reinforces the emotional attachment of users. Humour and the production of exclusive content for the platform are key variables explaining this effect.