Netanyahu Dominates TikTok Engagement Amidst Israeli Election Campaign

Israeli politicians are actively courting young voters, particularly first-time voters, on social media platforms, with TikTok emerging as a key battleground. A special project by N12 and "Scooper" analyzed 368 TikTok videos from eight political accounts and nearly 10,000 comments on top posts to understand engagement patterns.

Benjamin Netanyahu leads significantly in overall engagement, accounting for approximately 73% of the total interactions (likes, comments, shares) across the analyzed accounts within a month, totaling 1.7 million. This is despite posting fewer videos than some other politicians. His average post generated over 50,000 interactions, far surpassing others like Naftali Bennett, who ranked second in average engagement with about 6,700 interactions per post.

This high engagement for Netanyahu, however, is not necessarily indicative of political support. An analysis of comments found that 61% of comments on his posts were neutral or irrelevant to politics, suggesting his account has become a broader internet phenomenon rather than a purely political one. In contrast, Itamar Ben-Gvir, despite lower overall engagement (183,000 interactions), received a more supportive audience, with 73% of comments being positive and only 15% negative.

Naftali Bennett's posts showed a higher average engagement after Netanyahu, with comments often focusing on the content of his videos, such as Q&A sessions or policy critiques. Yair Golan's engagement saw a higher proportion of negative comments, with many users expressing support for Netanyahu. Gadi Eisenkot's engagement was mixed, with roughly equal numbers of positive, negative, and neutral comments.

The analysis highlights that likes and comments on TikTok do not directly translate to votes. While politicians are present on the platform, the nature of their engagement and audience reaction varies significantly, posing the challenge of converting online attention into actual electoral support in the upcoming elections, where approximately 550,000 new voters aged 18-22 will participate.