Indonesian Political Transformation
Vol. 2 No. 1 (2026): Indonesian Political Transformation, April 2026

Electoral Personalization and TikTok Politics: The Transformation of Campaign Strategies in Indonesia's 2024 General Election

Laras Maheswari (Universitas Nahdlatul Ulama Indonesia)



Article Info

Publish Date
20 Apr 2026

Abstract

The rapid expansion of TikTok has transformed political campaigning by prioritizing personalized communication, algorithmic visibility, and emotionally engaging content over conventional forms of electoral mobilization. Indonesia's 2024 General Election offers an important opportunity to examine how digital platforms reshape campaign strategies and voter engagement in one of the world's largest democracies. Although previous research has explored the political impact of social media, limited attention has been devoted to TikTok's unique role in accelerating electoral personalization and redefining political branding. This study investigates how political candidates, campaign teams, and voters utilized TikTok during Indonesia's 2024 election. Using a mixed qualitative approach, the research combines digital content analysis, engagement metrics, interviews with campaign strategists, and discourse analysis of highly viewed political videos. The findings demonstrate that successful campaign strategies increasingly relied on authenticity, entertainment, emotional storytelling, and algorithmic optimization rather than ideological messaging alone. This transformation contributed to greater political accessibility among younger voters but also encouraged personality-centered politics and simplified policy discussions. The article argues that TikTok has become a significant institution within contemporary electoral politics by reshaping political communication, voter behavior, and democratic participation. It contributes to comparative political communication literature by extending debates on platformization, algorithmic governance, and digital campaigning beyond Western democracies. The findings provide practical implications for election management bodies, policymakers, and digital platforms seeking to balance political innovation with electoral fairness, transparency, and democratic accountability.

Copyrights © 2026






Journal Info

Abbrev

politics

Publisher

Subject

Description

The Indonesian Political Transformation, a peer-reviewed scholarly journal dedicated to advancing critical and interdisciplinary studies on political change, democratic development, governance, and state–society relations in Indonesia. The journal aims to become an international forum for ...