Is Minister Simon Harris a true TikTok Taoiseach? 

New research reveals that Irish female political leaders receive more interaction across social platforms

Issue Date: Monday, 8th April 2024: As Minister Simon Harris is set to take on the role of Taoiseach this week, an in-depth analysis of social media platforms of party leaders has revealed the quality of interactions on Minister Simon Harris’ posts is far lower than some of his Irish female party leader counterparts. In contrast, despite having fewer followers across various platforms, leader of the Social Democrats Holly Cairns TD and leader of Sinn Féin Mary Lou McDonald TD have higher interaction rates on both Instagram and TikTok.

New statistics from Jailbird Communications reveal that, on average, only 0.8% of Minister Simon Harris's followers engage or interact with his Instagram posts. In comparison, Mary Lou McDonald TD achieves an engagement rate of nearly 2.5%, which means that although she has a lower follower count, she gets more followers interacting with her regularly on the platform than Minister Simon Harris. 

Equally, Holly Cairns TD, with a slightly higher follower count than Mary Lou McDonald TD on Instagram, has an engagement rate of 2.4%, again resulting in her having a far more engaged audience than Minister Simon Harris across this platform. 

An important takeaway from these figures is that a follower count means very little when analysing social metrics. Both Holly Cairns TD and Mary Lou McDonald TD have more sway and impact than Simon Harris when examining how people react to their content on Instagram. 

On TikTok, while Minister Simon Harris holds the most substantial follower footprint on the platform among political leaders with a fanbase of 95,000, only 5.2% of his followers engage with his content. In contrast, Holly Cairns, with a follower count of nearly 10,000, has an engagement rate of nearly 17.5%, meaning although her numbers are lower, she has a strong impact on the platform. 

Currently, Mary Lou McDonald TD does not have a TikTok account, but she is heavily featured in Sinn Féin’s posts. This TikTok account has a following of nearly 195,000, with an engagement rate of 4.1%. 

With 79% of Irish people actively engaging with social media regularly, politicians are leaning on various platforms to get their message out to the voting public. 45% of Irish people use Instagram, and 42% now flock to TikTok. As elections loom large, it’s not surprising that politicians are utilising social media as a direct way to share their campaign messages with the Irish public. 

Commenting on the research, Julie Blakeney, Managing Director at Jailbird Communications, said: 

'Minister Simon Harris was one of the first Irish politicians to utilise social media to full effect over the last four years. However, being present and active on social media does not mean it's necessarily helping your public image. When we delve further into the statistics, they reveal female leaders receive more engagement and interaction across the various platforms.'

She continued:

'Social media is now the most immediate way for the public to access their local representative. It's the new constituency office. By not engaging fully with this form of communication, politicians miss out on a huge opportunity to reach their constituents and share their party manifestos authentically and meaningfully.'

Stay tuned for more cultural insights from the Jailbird team.