The Use of Instagram by German Politicians

The next speakers at IAMCR 2019 are Thomas Eckerl and Oliver Hahn, whose interest is in the role of Instagram in political communication in Germany. The adoption of such platforms for political communication is an example of growing mediatisation in society as such, and in politics in particular, as well as a sign of the continuing shift towards more participatory media forms and from top-down to bottom-up communication over the past two decades or so.

What is the role of Instagram in Germany in this context, then, especially in the context of the 2017 federal and state elections? How do politicians attempt to communicate, and what audiences do they seek to reach? The project explored this with eight qualitative interviews with politicians and staffers from all major parties except the far-right AfD as well as through content analysis.

In these interviews, Instagram was seen as a way to show more aspects of the politicians’ everyday lives; to avoid the hate speech targetted at them on platforms like Facebook and Twitter; to reach a younger and more visually oriented target group; and to enter into a more meaningful political dialogue with voters. Communication strategies also included a focus on behind-the-scenes aspects of political life, but there was a wide range of strategies. Videos were also seen as important, but politicians and staffers still had a highly unspecific sense of their target groups on the platform.

Instagram was also understood as just one of a number of channels needed for political communication, rather than as a stand-alone channel, especially given the complexity of contemporary politics. A more personalised style was seen as more effective here, rather than posting only professionally taken photography. This may also signal a greater credibility of content.