By Sophia Rothut, Darian Harff & Cornelius Puschmann
In today’s digitalised world, social media platforms have evolved into powerful channels for disseminating political information and shaping political opinion. While these platforms can enhance democratic processes by, for instance, increasing opportunities to participate in political discussions or acquire political knowledge, they also pose challenges, particularly with the spread of extremist content and associated concerns about radicalisation.
A prominent online phenomenon is the rise of social media influencers (SMIs): individuals who have gained popularity through online self-presentation and personal branding. SMIs have carved out a unique position: Unlike traditional celebrities, they often appear more approachable and relatable, sharing personal aspects of their lives and engaging directly with their audience, thereby fostering experiences of (parasocial) relationships among their followers. These relationships create a sense of intimacy and trust, making individuals more receptive to the SMI’s content, including political views.
Extremist actors, adept in leveraging online trends, may exploit this dynamic, as evidenced by the emergence of an international (mainly American and British) alternative influence network on YouTube or discussions about the set-up of a right-wing influencer agency at a secret far-right meeting in Germany, uncovered by Correctiv.
New communicators – former target groups
Social media as the typical environment of SMIs, naturally place emphasis on young audiences, who are the most active users. Across Europe, 96% of citizens aged 16-29 use the internet daily. Social media platforms offer more than just entertainment; they provide spaces for identity exploration, social connection, and access to information.
While the importance of SMIs in political, particularly extremist, communication is growing, targeting youth is not new for extremist groups. Young people can be especially impressionable and vulnerable to problematic content, because their political identity is still developing and, as such, can be explored and shaped online. Furthermore, SMIs can be opinion leaders in terms of political content and often represent role models that are both aspirational and relatable. The identity formation process is a crucial mechanism, explaining why young individuals are a popular target group for extremist actors for radicalisation and recruitment attempts, aiming to seed their ideology as early as possible.
Extremist groups often present themselves as fulfilling core needs for susceptible individuals, seemingly offering three aspects:
(1) Simple solutions to perceived grievances and injustices.
(2) Anchors for individuals’ identities along positively-displayed (group) characteristics.
(3) A sense of belonging.
SMIs can contribute to responding and leveraging such needs through corresponding communication strategies. In this way, extremist SMIs may serve as accessible conduits for extremist groups to popularise ideology among impressionable (young) individuals.
Far-right SMI communication
As digital content creators, SMIs are typically experts in understanding social media dynamics, producing engaging content, and using trendy formats tailored to their audience. Far-right SMIs, in particular, may embed extremist ideologies subtly to avoid content moderation and not alienate their recipients, a strategy known as mainstreaming.
Several content types are particularly relevant in this regard, such as:
- Simplification in social media posts: In an increasingly complex world, radical narratives offer simple explanations. This aligns with the nature of social media, where posts are often brief due to character limits (e.g. on X) or time constraints (e.g. Reels, TikToks). The fast-paced consumption of online content can amplify the appeal of such simplified content. Furthermore, the frequent consumption of SMI content coincides with an increased perception of simplified explanations provided by them.
- Emotionalisation via personal(ised) insights: (Far-right) SMIs provide emotionalised content by sharing personal stories. For example, an influencer might share concerns about societal changes affecting their family, tapping into followers’ emotions and making underlying ideologies more relatable. Moreover, these personal stories can be metapoliticized by SMIs, using their own experiences to identify and illustrate broader societal issues.
- Entertaining content: Far-right SMIs blend extremist messages with entertainment by incorporating political worldviews into lifestyle content, visually appealing posts, cooking vlogs, humorous challenges – formats that followers might be familiar with from other SMIs and that attract users seeking entertainment rather than politics. This allows extremist ideas to appear more harmless and only become visible at a second glance.
- Community-building and engaging formats: As outlined above, SMIs stand out as relatable, approachable and trusted role models. (Parasocial) bonds between the SMI and a follower can increase the appeal and effectiveness of the SMI’s content, particularly relevant to those SMIs that pursue an activist goal, trying to strengthen the movement. To reinforce cohesion among followers, engaging formats such as livestreams foster exchange not just between SMIs and their audiences but also among followers.
Outlook
Far-right narratives are increasingly disseminated through social media, with young, vulnerable audiences as particular target. Platforms like TikTok, Instagram and Telegram, as well as smaller ones such as Gab or DLive, afford extremist actors attractive avenues to spread their messages. A particular set of communicators in this regard are SMIs, who aim to build strong bonds with their followers and integrate political content into their communication. A key concern is that extremist content is often subtly and attractively packaged, making its persuasive intent difficult to discern.
Addressing harmful developments requires strategies to enhance young people’s media literacy, equipping them with tools and knowledge that enable them to recognise and resist problematic content. Democratic actors and civil society should maintain an active online presence, promoting counter-narratives, while platform operators must intensify efforts to combat content aimed at radicalisation. Most importantly, recognising the pivotal role of SMIs as intermediaries who provide gateways to political information and worldviews is essential for shaping a more informed public discourse.
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More information can be found in our (German-language) publication here as well as in the resources we cited, such as these publications on anti-feminist influencers, alt-health influencers, or voters as political influencers.
Sophia Rothut is a predoctoral researcher at the Department of Media and Communication of Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich. Her research focuses on online radicalisation, mainstreaming of radical ideas, and political/far-right influencers, as well as (regulatory) approaches to counter harmful online content.
Darian Harff (PhD, KU Leuven) is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Communication of the University of Vienna. He is also affiliated with the Media Psychology Lab at KU Leuven. In his research, he focuses on (political) social media influencers and their impact on young people’s attitudes and behaviors, and on the relationship between different types of political communication and political participation.
Cornelius Puschmann is Professor of Communication and Media Studies with a focus on digital communication at ZeMKI, University of Bremen and leader of the digital communication and information diversity (DCID) lab. Previously he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society in Berlin and the Leibniz Institute for Media Research in Hamburg. His research interests include computational methods, digital media usage, hate speech, and the role of algorithmic selection for digital communication.
IMAGE CREDIT: PEXELS
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