ANALYSIS: Singh For Me? A Look at the NDP Leader’s Use of TikTok

Clanny Mugabe/The Queen’s Journal

A historically underrepresented voting demographic was one of the targets of NDP leader Jagmeet Singh’s election campaign strategy. In the months leading up to September 2021’s federal election, Singh amassed nearly 850,000 followers and a cumulative 8.1 million likes on his official TikTok account, @thejagmeetsingh.

Tiktok is a social media platform where users -- mostly Gen Z or millennials -- post short clips around 15-60 seconds in length of themselves with popular sounds, songs, or their own original audios.

In one of his videos, Singh asks “Why are we the only party willing to tax the super rich to invest in people to make their life better?”

“It’s just the vibe, I’m that guy,” responds the lively song, as Singh bops his head to the electronic beat.

With the COVID-19 pandemic limiting the frequency of in-person events and door-to-door campaigning, many political leaders have turned to social media to reach potential voters. The NDP’s online campaigning strategy is reflective of this recent movement towards social media as a major platform for political parties. So far, Singh is the only Canadian federal party leader on TikTok.

Prime Minister and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has a combined 9.7 million followers on Instagram and Twitter, and releases bilingual updates on his account. Conservative leader Erin O’Toole also posts bilingual updates in addition to short video clips and infographics on his Twitter. However, liking or sharing a political post doesn’t always translate to votes. In fact, traditional campaign strategies like physical signs have similar uncertainties.

The phenomenon is best explained by Carleton University professor of political science Jonathan Malloy, when talking about the use of physical signs in election campaigns. “It’s hard to really scientifically link the number of signs to the number of votes. It may be an indicator, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you can prove that the signs created more votes by any means. From what I can tell, it is pretty anecdotal, rather than data-driven.”

Social media is a big echo chamber for users, especially for those receiving news from political parties from social media. Users are unlikely to follow political candidates they dislike, instead interacting with content they agree with and/or enjoy. This can create a false sense of “hype” or popularity around political parties. This effect is not limited to political parties, especially on a platform like Tiktok, where “trends” spread rapidly through its young audience.

Singh’s social media presence is strong on both Tiktok and Instagram. His frequency and usage of social media engagement suggests that more young people are able to interact with the political system and express their admiration of both SIngh and his policies. NDP candidates have followed the party leader’s lead, with Tiktok accounts like @votekellyndp from Newmarket-Aurora, popping up in an effort to inspire young voters. Much of Singh’s social media campaign centered on taxing the “ultra rich”, fighting the climate crisis, and investing in health care.

However, unlike Singh’s prediction in a TikTok video that young voters would turn out in historic numbers, NDP support was underwhelming, not quite the “orange wave” that would sway the popular vote in the NDP’s favour. The NDP received 17.8 per cent of the popular vote, when two days prior to the election, the NDP polled at 21 per cent.

According to an analysis by the Globe and Mail of the NDP’s weaker than expected performance, “Part of that was strategic voting, but some was weak ground organization.” In organized labour, specifically private sector unions, NDP support has gotten progressively weaker.

At a post-election news conference, Singh acknowledged the flaws in the NDP campaign. He emphasized the need to improve ground game, referring to a traditional campaigning method consisting of canvassing and door-knocking by volunteers. This strategy is known as “Get out the vote”, whose main goal is to get voters in the booth.

While the NDP focussed on TikTok, the Liberals used a more traditional approach with Facebook ads, and the Conservatives held live virtual Q&As and rallies. This, coupled with in-person campaigning, formed the hybrid approach that defined this pandemic federal election.