• Politicians have long understood that social networks are means of communication that they cannot do without.
  • Most are nevertheless content with the classic Facebook and Twitter, platforms now abandoned by the youngest.
  • Some elected officials, especially local elected officials, have taken the gamble of launching on TikTok to expand their audience and transmit their messages with humor and pedagogy.

In addition to posting videos of cute cats, social networks also have the advantage of creating proximity, especially with young people. An advantage that some local elected officials have understood and that they exploit for different purposes. While most politicians are already present on legacy platforms, such as Facebook, others have taken up the much less conventional challenge of TikTok. From newcomers to confirmed users of the Chinese social network, 20 Minutes has selected three profiles of local elected officials in Oise, Essonne and Doubs.

Ismaël Boudjekada, opponent of 200,000 followers

At 28, Ismaël Boudjekada is no longer a six-week-old rabbit. At the political level, he has already stood in a number of elections, including the presidential election, before entering the municipal opposition in Grand-Charmont, in the Doubs. On social networks, he is present everywhere, but it is on TikTok that he gets the highest audience thanks to his 202,700 followers. It must be said that the young city councillor is at the cleat, with more than 200 videos posted, not counting the lives, in just one year of presence on the Chinese platform. "Even I'm still surprised when I see the numbers," he says.

Because he does not look for the buzz, even if he often finds it: "I do not forbid myself anything and I only make a video because I want to share something that could interest people," continues Ismaël Boudjekada. And if he deals a little with local news, especially to tackle in due form the mayor of his commune, the almost thirty-year-old also surfs on national political news, through the media, cooking and small legal tricks. "My most successful video was the one in which I give advice on car insurance contracts," he recalls.

His success is mocked by his opponents for mayor and envied by much of the political world, so much so that some contact him for advice. "I am often told that I can make interesting content that is not sexy," says the city councillor. Brands are also interested in him for product placements. "I refuse that, except to help a local craftsman who is just starting out," he insists. Moreover, Ismaël Boudjekada does not need this since he admits without flinching to earn between 500 and sometimes 2,500 euros per month thanks to TikTok. "This is information that I feel should be public, like the amount of Gérard Larcher's pension," jokes the young man. And that will be the whole subject of his next video.

François Parolini, the rest of Itteville

Itteville is a small town of 6,700 inhabitants, located in the Essonne, south of Paris. No offense, there is nothing truly exceptional there that could earn him national fame. And yet, the number of media occurrences that appear on the Internet about it is impressive. And it is to its mayor, François Parolini (DVG), that the city owes this celebrity. Elected in 2020, the mustachioed sexagenarian spent the first year of his mandate making a terrible observation: "We could no longer reach young people, even with Facebook, which they let go," he admits.

So, guided by his com advisor, he decided to look into TikTok. "It's ultimately a fairly simple and very creative tool. You just have to observe a little what happens there and take it cool, "says the elected official. And he quickly got hooked up, finding the trends that work by reproducing them in his own way. He stages himself on Orelsan, Eminem, Darth Vader. For François Parolini, "humor is a very good vector of communication". Because if he brilliantly handles derision, it is for a specific purpose: to convey a political message with pedagogy. "Renew the political discourse to interest young people, especially in the role of local authorities". In the line of sight, the "intercos" as he says, community of communes, department, region, which tend to take precedence over mayors.

He doesn't like it, so they display them, like in his video "couscous" where he denounces the inequity of treatment between the communes of the community. "Local politicians scrutinize us, denigrate us," he says without paying more attention. Meanwhile, he has twice as many followers as people in his city.

Christophe Dietrich, the terror of wild deposits

Mayor of Laigneville, in the Oise, since 2014, Christophe Dietrich has his little notoriety. Barely in place, the fifty-year-old decided to tackle a phenomenon that was rotting the life of his town: the illegal dumping of garbage. His "return to sender" technique was radical, but the effects were slow to be felt until he discovered Facebook: "If we want it to be effective, to have a pedagogical value, we must make it known," he says. Posted on social networks, his spectacular videos of waste deposited with their owners were a hit: "We had 50% less littering in the first month and now, it had been ten months that we had nothing," he says.

If Facebook has been rather successful, Christophe Dietrich still opened a TikTok account a few weeks ago that already has 700 followers. "The idea came from my 18-year-old daughter," he admits, "to show what the daily life of a mayor is like." So yes, there is a video of an author of wild deposit, caught in flag this weekend. And it is also the most seen. But in another, the elected official dwells on neighborhood conflicts, "the penitent cross of the mayor," he laments. Seniors' meals, falling trees, city council: everything goes.

Pedagogy, humor and proximity. "It allows me to be informed in real time of what is happening in the municipality and to be responsive. This creates a very strong bond with the population," says Christophe Dietrich. It's also very time-consuming; Hence the need, "from time to time, to wean ourselves a little". But, because it is his trademark and he can not help it, the mayor of Laigneville does not deprive himself of a little rant sometimes. The latest target is Total and its "lesson in cynicism of the century".

  • Entertainment
  • Social Media
  • TikTok
  • Mayor
  • Hauts-de-France
  • Picardy
  • Franche-Comté
  • Ile