As The Gambia prepares to go to the polls on December 5 to elect a president, a growing number of TikTok stars and social media influencers have started publicly endorsing their preferred candidates.
Some of these influencers have hundreds of thousands of followers, while others have fewer than 100,000. But their influence extends far beyond their follower counts. Whenever they go live, thousands of people tune in, watch, and engage in conversations in the comments.
Unlike in Senegal, where politicians have increasingly turned to social media influencers to promote their campaigns, Gambian politicians rarely pay TikTok stars to endorse them.
According to some influencers, they support presidential candidates because they believe in them and do not expect any monetary rewards or other benefits if their preferred candidates win.
Can a TikTok endorsement actually influence how people vote?
Social media influencers can play an important role in shaping political conversations, particularly among young voters. Some TikTok creators and other influencers are helping to build a culture in which voting is seen as exciting and cool.
Not every TikTok star, however, wants to get involved in politics. Some prefer to remain completely neutral and avoid endorsing candidates or political parties. But even those who stay away from party politics often speak out when national issues affect their followers and communities.
The country’s ongoing electricity crisis is one example. Several TikTok stars have posted videos calling on the government to address the problem and restore a stable electricity supply. Their posts have generated discussions among thousands of users, demonstrating the ability of social media influencers to bring national issues to the attention of large audiences.
As the election draws closer, political parties may look to TikTok and other social media platforms as a way to reach younger voters, promote campaign advertisements, or amplify their messages.
Whether those endorsements will translate into actual votes, however, remains uncertain. A TikTok star may be able to attract thousands of viewers to a livestream, but turning online popularity into political influence is a different challenge.