How expert rates Albanese, Dutton's TikTok strategy ahead of election

'Dutton has more followers but Albanese's doing it better.'

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton may have more followers on his personal TikTok account, but Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is more successful on the platform ahead of the 2025 Federal Election according to one expert.

Both leaders launched their own accounts separate to the Australian Labor Party and Liberal Party of Australia late last year and have already started campaigning on the platform.

Dr Susan Grantham, a Griffith University public relations scholar specialising in the intersection social media and politics, said their presence on the wildly popular app shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.

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The Digital News Report: Australia 2024 found that almost half of Australians use social media to access news and nearly two-thirds of Gen Z rely on social media as their main news source.

Video news consumption is also becoming increasingly popular, especially short form news videos like those found on TikTok and Reels, making them incredibly powerful campaign platforms for politicians.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris took TikTok by storm during the 2024 US Presidential Election campaign and saw massive engagement on the platform.

Closer to home, Queensland's Opposition Leader Steven Miles saw a spike in seats won in the 2024 State General Election after campaigning heavily on TikTok.

But of course neithr party won their respective elections. The power of TikTok as a campaign platform can't be denied but there are still question marks as to its effectiveness in shifting the dial.

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Neither party won their respective elections, but the power of TikTok as a campaign platform can't be denied.

This year will mark the first time Gen Z and Millennials will outnumber Baby Boomers at a federal election.

But who is 'doing TikTok' better, Albanese or Dutton?

"If you had have asked me this a month ago, I would have said Dutton," Grantham told 9news.com.au.

"But Albanese has has really been pushing hard. He's got a lot of videos, they seem to be getting good traction and there is more variety in what the what he's doing, what he's presenting ... Albanese is definitely doing a fantastic job."

At the time of writing, Albanese has about 23,000 followers and 269,000 likes across 42 videos while Dutton has about 29,000 followers and 383,000 likes across just 16 videos.

But Albanese, who goes by @albomp on TikTok, has the kind of 'Australian everyman' image that performs well on the app and is favoured by its algorithm.

He can lean into social media trends and lighthearted content that performs well on the app, like hand-held selfie-style videos, without it feeling inauthentic.

And TikTok is all about authenticity, even when you're a politician.

Dutton, on the other hand, has spent years cultivating his public persona as a traditional and straight-laced politician and that carries through the content he's been posting on TikTok under the handle @peter.duttonmp.

While his public persona isn't as 'TikTok-friendly' as Albanese's, he's stayed true to it on the app rather than trying to engage in trends that don't suit his personal brand.

It's a strategic decision that Grantham said will serve him well.

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"When we talk about political authenticity, we don't just mean the social media trending authenticity - what we see influencers do," she explained.

Instead, politicians must present an 'authentic' image on social media that aligns with their public image; this is what Grantham calls the 'political authentic self'.

A politician must be perceived as being authentic without deviating from the public image or persona they've already established, walking a fine line between relatability and respectability.

Albanese and Dutton must therefore take different approaches to TikTok because what is considered 'authentic' for each of them varies.

"Peter Dutton has a very specific personality. He's been in politics for a very long time, and we expect him to behave and be portrayed in a particular way," Grantham said.

"Albanese has more of an 'everyday Australian' approach, and this really shone through in the 2022 Election ... and he's continuing through with that personality style in his individual Tiktok account."

While Albanese's 'political authentic self' is better suited to TikTok, which is all about relatability, Dutton's doing well for himself on the app too.

Though he's posted fewer videos, the opposition leader has more followers and likes than Albanese and consistently draws in high view counts on his content.

And while some of Dutton's videos have attracted negative comments, Grantham said that's not a bad thing; negative engagement is still engagement.

It's clear that Albanese and Dutton both plan to make TikTok a part of their 2025 Federal Election campaign strategies and Grantham expects to see a lot more of Dutton and Albanese on Aussies' for you pages before we go to the polls this year.

"There are a lot of different age groups that are using TikTok for these purposes, so being on a platform like Tiktok is absolutely essential," Grantham said.

"Whether it is enough for a leader to win an election is yet to be seen."

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