Digital Political Forum: Themes and Styles of Pre-Election TikTok Posts

Abstract

 Introduction: TikTok is becoming an increasingly important platform for political communication, especially among young people. On this network, it is not uncommon for politics to mix with entertainment and popular trends, and politicians adapt their messages to the media’s logic and audience expectations. This is an example of how politics is mediatized.

 Aim: The aim of the study was first to examine the presence and popularity of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris on TikTok during the 2024 campaign, then to analyse the styles and formats of their posts, and finally to investigate which topics dominate and what the level of audience engagement is.

 Materials and Methods: A total of 116 TikTok posts were analyzed, 58 from each candidate. Quantitative analysis tracked the number of views, comments, and likes to assess the popularity of the posts. Qualitative analysis examined the style and communication approach, as well as the content themes. This allowed us to connect audience reactions with the style and topics of the posts.

 Results: Both candidates adapted to the TikTok logic, but in different ways. Trump chose posts that quickly attracted attention and highlighted his recognizable image. Harris experimented more with trends and formats, creating more diverse content and maintaining a consistent presence. Trump’s posts generated intense reactions in a short time, while Harris achieved broader engagement through varied and continuous posts.

 Conclusion: Politicians balance between informing and entertaining, and younger audiences engage more with interactive and creative content. However, in the long term, it remains uncertain how much these formats help people critically understand politics, as entertaining content often dominates deeper analysis.