Australian Politicians Are Missing the TikTok Revolution: A Wake-Up Call Before the 2025 Election
Let me get this straight. We just watched the US election where social media literally changed the game for reaching young voters. Like, hello? Is anyone down there in Canberra taking notes?
Gen Z and millennials outnumber boomers as eligible voters in the upcoming 2025 Australian election.
By a HUGE margin.
And what are the two major parties doing on TikTok? Coming at us with their crusty suits and scripted promises like it's 1995 and we're watching Question Time.
Spoiler alert: We're not.
The Current State of Political TikTok in Australia
Peter Dutton, yes, Peter Dutton of all people, is crushing it on views just by embracing memes. Meanwhile, Albo is on Instagram living his best yuppie life because, apparently, that's where he thinks the votes are. But doing a few memes, then throwing in some scripted videos with an almost disingenuous attitude, followed by bland, unemotional content that puts you to sleep... that's just not going to cut it.
What Could Be (But Isn't)
Now imagine if all the Greens and independents like David Shoebridge, David Pocock, and all the other indies actually got their act together on TikTok. Imagine if they:
Embraced the channel for what it is
Showed their actual personalities
Made highly relatable content
Spoke our language
Ditched the stuffy political act we're so tired of
There would be a strong chance they could reshape Parliament in 2025. But instead, we're getting: "As your representative, I pledge to..."
Yeah. No. We're not accepting that anymore.
The US Election Lesson We're Ignoring
It might baffle some people, but here's the truth: if there's one thing we learned from the US election results, it's that people aren't aligning with institutions or political parties anymore. They're aligning with personal brands.
It's impossible to say that Trump's personal brand – and even Musk's personal brand – didn't play a massive role in how the election went down. That's exactly what the Democrats got wrong in November. Not only did they stick to an old playbook while their audience moved on to a whole new game, but they completely forgot about a massive demographic – young male voters. That's a huge group they just decided to ignore.
And now, our politicians are about to make the exact same mistakes.
How Politicians Can Actually Nail Social Media
First up, go LIVE and don't be afraid of it. French president Macron and even our own Mary did this on TikTok, and it was absolutely refreshing to see a world leader put on their big boy pants and go live to answer questions in real time while also handling trolls incredibly well. Taking unscripted questions and giving unscripted answers shows you're not afraid of your constituents and potential voters.
Try some "get ready with me" videos or show us your morning routine while talking about a key issue or what you've got going on that day. Act like we're there with you getting ready for work too. We know you're human, but you guys are looking like robots and suits at the moment.
For the love of God, stop doing generic office videos wearing the same generic suit over and over again. Stop getting your fellow politicians who are clearly uncomfortable on camera in front of the camera with a script. We know that you're in Canberra in Parliament or on the election circuit and we quite frankly don't care. Show us that you're like one of us.
Stitch viral videos. Stitching with an absolutely delusional video is going to grab attention fast, which is exactly what you want on TikTok and other channels. US politician Ken Russell from Florida, who happens to be running for mayor of Miami, did exactly that when TikTok first came out and he became a TikTok sensation because of it. He used these opportunities to set the record straight about voting and also show the environmental causes he was advocating for. Facts can be spicy when they're delivered with attitude and sass.
Keep it short and sharp. 30 seconds of absolute pure substance will beat your three minutes of Parliamentary boredom any day.
But the biggest thing you guys are missing is that voting is an emotional decision. We vote for people we trust and who we relate to. So stop trying to impress us with your fancy economic jargon and your fancy language and actually show us who you are. Dutton and Chi made the bar absolutely below the floor, so you could certainly do better just by tweaking a few things.
The 2025 election is approaching fast, and if you can't figure out how to authentically connect with voters where they actually spend their time, you're going to be left wondering what happened when the results come in.
Know a politician or political staffer who desperately needs this wake-up call? Share this article with them! Or forward it to that mate you're always debating politics with - they might finally agree with you on something.
A Plea to Aussie Politicians
So Aussie politicians, I am BEGGING you: read the room, or in this case, the For You page.
The 2025 election is approaching fast, and if you can't figure out how to authentically connect with voters where they actually spend their time, you're going to be left wondering what happened when the results come in.
Know a politician or political staffer who desperately needs this wake-up call? Share this article with them! Or forward it to that mate you're always debating politics with - they might finally agree with you on something.
The 2025 election is coming, and our politicians need to get with the program before it's too late.