Will the federal election be won and lost on Tiktok?
If a politician lip-syncs into the void and no one watches, did they even campaign? With politicians taking to Tiktok to convince voters of their worth, Keep Left’s director of planning and performance, Larissa Thorne, argues we don’t need content creators in Canberra. We need leaders who care more about policy than performance.
Welcome to the 2025 federal election, where Tiktok isn’t just a place for dances and day-in-the-life videos — it’s where the next generation of voters are consuming their news, forming opinions, and, in some cases, deciding who gets their vote.
This year, Millennials and Gen Z will officially outnumber Boomers and Gen X in the electorate. That demographic shift is huge. And where are they spending their time? Tiktok.
Over 9.7 million Australian adults are on the platform, spending an average of 42 hours a month scrolling, watching, commenting, and yes, engaging with politics. The question isn’t should politicians be there. It’s how should they show up.
The overstated figure of the size of voting bloc of millennials and gen Z is only true against Boomers. There are more Gen X and Boomers combined voting in this election versus millennials and gen Z…