TikTok use and young AfD voters

This chapter investigates the relationship between social media use and voting for the German far-right party, AfD. It poses three research questions tapping a) the type of platform, with a specific focus on TikTok in comparison to other social media, b) the moderating role of voters’ age, with a particular focus on young voters, and c) gender differences among voters. Analysing novel panel survey data in the context of the 2024 EP elections in Germany, we find a positive relationship between TikTok use and voting for the AfD in cross-sectional analyses. However, these findings do not replicate in the panel analyses, which means that no causal relationship is established. Moreover, there are similar positive associations for Facebook and Telegram use, respectively, while other social media use is either negatively related or not at all. Age does not moderate these relations, but platform preferences intersect with age groups, such that young voters prefer TikTok and Instagram, while middle-aged voters prefer Facebook. Gender rarely moderates the relationship between social media use and voting for the AfD. We strongly recommend that future research explores underlying mechanisms and addresses potential confounders that may be driving associations between social media use and exposure to far-right content, particularly with respect to TikTok, and voting behaviour.