Prevalence, Presentation, and Popularity of Political Topics in Social Media Influencers’ Content Across Two Countries

Social media influencers (SMIs) are not only important players in marketing but have also repeatedly posted about political issues on their channels. Yet, we lack insights into the prevalence of their political communication, their portrayal of different political subjects, and factors driving content popularity among audiences. This comparative study tackles these gaps: Quota-based youth surveys in Germany and Belgium (NTotal = 2,800) informed a YouTube content analysis in both countries (NTotal = 5,740), which was complemented by video metadata (i.e. views and likes per views on videos). Our findings show that most youth encounter political content from SMIs, but on a more occasional basis. Correspondingly, we found that most of the SMIs in our sample addressed political topics rather sporadically. However, their political videos received more views and likes than their nonpolitical content, implying that their discussion of meaningful subjects garners audiences’ attention. Our five-year analysis further suggests that political topics have become more prevalent in their content over time, pointing to an upwards trend in their political communication in recent years. Moreover, findings indicate that lifestyle-based political topics (e.g., gender, health) are most frequently discussed by SMIs. Generally, political topics were most often presented in the form of commentaries or reaction videos, which has several theoretical implications. Last, our results demonstrate that commentary-style videos and those characterized by high infotainment are most liked by audiences, showing that this type of content resonates strongly with SMIs’ viewers.