Political communication in TikTok part 2: Claudia Sheinbaum and Marcelo Ebrard's pre-campaigns, between spectacle and misinformation.

By Thelma Elena Pérez

This information is part of the research "TikTok as a new technopolitical communication platform for the 2024 presidential campaign in Mexico", conducted by the writer of this column and Cyntia Cerón Hernández, professors of the Bachelor's Degree in Digital Communication and co-coordinators of the Media and Information Literacy Laboratory (LABMIL) of the Universidad Intercontinental. Also, of the inter-institutional research "Configuration of electoral political communication in socio-digital networks during the 2024 presidential campaign in Mexico from the digital rhetoric". 

With special recognition to María José García Villatorio and Santiago Bolívar Rubio Mejía, Digital Communication students and research assistants, participants in the pilot study applied from October 2022 to December 2023 to the official TikTok accounts of Claudia Sheinbaum and Marcelo Ebrard, contenders in the internal election of Morena for the candidacy for the presidency of Mexico, who had greater weight in the dispute, initiated activity on the platform since 2022 and, according to our analysis, obtained greater registrations.

The study integrated a mixed methodology, content and critical discourse analysis of themes, message function (communication strategy), tone and self-representation to an overall total sample of 45 videos disseminated on TikTok by the contenders.

How is TikTok used in the electoral process?