TikTok on the Clock, but the Parties Don’t Stop: A Ranking of New Zealand’s Political TikTok Pages
Words by Sarah Bakewell (she/her)
Ever been glued to your TikTok For You page instead of writing an overdue essay? Perhaps you’ve seen Christopher Luxon or Chlӧe Swarbrick pop up. Nearing the election, New Zealand’s political parties are ramping up their social media campaigns with TikTok. But how good are these attempts to connect with young voters? I’ve scrolled through the politicians’ TikTok pages so you don’t have to.
National (@newzealandnationalparty)—56.0K Followers
National’s TikTok content started out trend-based to lure people in, and now has become ‘politics in action’ demonstrations with more traditional campaigning. Solid strategy.
A big chunk of their content is pure flak towards Labour Party—a campaign strategy in which a party attempts to discredit the opposition. There’re many clips of Nicola Willis discussing politics in a FaceTime-like fashion, which feels like chatting with a mate. This creates a false sense of personal connection, constructing a para-social relationship between us and Nicola and making it easier for voters to feel ‘seen’ by politicians.
7/10. Could have less Labour flak have less Labour flak, but I’m impressed at how effectively they’ve integrated relatable trends into their content.
Labour (@nzlabour)—2508 Followers
Labour only created their page at the end of August. All that’s been posted is some MP introductions, a couple Parliament clips, and some official press releases. They’re not utilising the algorithm to its full potential. They’ve recently branched out into fronting Hipkins on their landmark policies, and have started taking aim at National’s tax plan.
4/10. The basic (and stiff) foundations have been laid, and they lose points for such a late start. Excited to see what’s to come, hopefully it's a bit more creative.
New Conservative Party (@newconservativenz)—908 Followers
Very unexpected. Their TikToks don’t use any trending audios, and are mainly just Ted Johnston and Helen Houghton stating divisive opinions to the camera. Their page is a perfect example of what not to do with social media campaigns. There is absolutely nothing for TikTok’s algorithm to pick up on from this, but it brings like-minded people together, giving power and potential for hate groups to bring new people into the fold. After viewing this page, similar New Conservative content started popping up on my For You page. Spooky implications.
1/10. Enough said.
Te Pāti Māori (@te_patimaori)—3802 Followers
An older Te Pāti Māori account utilised trends and created a fun environment with Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi, but the password was lost—their new page has significantly less followers. The dances and trends were executed perfectly, without coming across as cringe, alongside videos on issues relating to Covid-19.
The new page has a more polished and professional feel, with well-edited policy discussions, aesthetic imagery, and music overlay. Unlike the other parties’ pages, Te Pāti Māori has a larger amount of interviews with supporters—namely from a younger demographic. This community engagement gives voice to voters and adds relatability for the younger demographic on TikTok.
8/10. A shame they lost the password for the old account, it was flourishing. If they keep this up though I’m sure they’ll regain their followers in no time!
The Green Party (@greensnz)—16.4K Followers
This is how you run a social media campaign! You get para-social aspects from one-on-one discussions from Chlӧe Swarbrick, they’re dishing out just the right amount of flak without it being overbearing, good displays of politics in action through Parliament clips and informative policy discussions, and the memes are top-tier. Bright imagery, text, and fun editing of some TikToks has created an enjoyable user experience too. Ka pai Green Party!
10/10. The Green Party’s page is just *chefs kiss*. Very entertaining, very informative, very passionate about connecting with youth voters. They know their demographic exceptionally well.
ACT Party (@actnewzealand)—12.2K Followers
ACT has racked up a considerable follower count, purely from clips of David Seymour, mixing FaceTime like conversations with formal camera presentation. The other nine MPs? Non-existent. There’s a couple of memes, but none that take advantage of the TikTok algorithm.
4/10. Lots of Parliament clips and parasocial chats, but the lack of trends gives the account a disconnected feel. It’s like David Seymour’s personal talk show.
The Opportunities Party (TOP) (@top.nz)—2061 Followers
This no-nonsense page is chock-full of policy discussions, professional editing, parasocial facetimes, and Raf Manji smooth talking on the news. Very polished and informative. The few scattered memes made me chuckle.
6/10. As a newer party, many people aren’t aware of TOP’s policies (or that they even exist) so the appeal of policy discussions is apparent. They don’t take advantage of TikTok’s algorithm to its fullest potential though. Utilising meme culture will boost youth engagement!
Not-So Honourable Mention: Shane Jones (@shanejones.nz)—4802 Followers
While NZ First doesn’t have a TikTok, Shane Jones burst onto the platform with a viral video parodying ‘Don’t Stop Believing’, recounting his achievements for Northland while in Government. He’s followed it up with interview clips, some of which are from conspiracy theory website The Platform.
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Politicians are finally starting to recognise the potential that a good social media campaign holds: connecting with youth voters has never been more convenient. Whilst they can be entertaining, taking a step back and reflecting on the ways we interact with political actors through social media is an important task. Every post, interaction, and meme is cleverly sculpted by an in-depth public relations team—hats off to the professionals running these accounts.