How do you do, fellow kids? Why Leo Varadkar can't be a TikToking Tánaiste
Leo Varadkar waving in a TikTok-style video he shared on Twitter.
Leo Varadkar caused quite a stir today when he shared a video based on a TikTok trend on Twitter. He had people rushing to announce the Taoiseach-turned-Tánaiste’s debut on the platform.
Sounds great, but he’s not actually on TikTok. Instead, he was meeting with representatives from the video-sharing app so his video was just a slightly awkward attempt to fit in.
In the clip, he highlights a number of facts about TikTok, which is hiring more than 1,000 Irish people this year, and pointing at the snippets of text as they appear on the screen around him.
If he’s trying to impress the TikTok bosses, it falls a little flat. Firstly, he didn’t set up an account on TikTok, and secondly, he shared the video on a rival social media platform instead.
Those almost 100k views at the time of writing could have been better shared elsewhere if he really wanted to make an impression.
Plus, he picked a video that can easily be parodied and edited over by others... which is already happening online. A rookie move by a politician who likes to give the impression he’s social media savvy.
Leo will probably never join TikTok. Despite legitimising 'having some cans in the park with the lads' and littering his Covid-19 speeches with quotes from pop culture, Leo just isn’t cool enough — sorry Leo!
It’s an app designed for teenagers and creatives of all ages to let loose and show off their skills, be it comedy, art, music, dance, or anything else under the sun. Leo, with his frozen smile and buttoned shirt, just doesn’t fit in.
That’s not to say politicians can’t be creative on social media. US Senator Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took a stab at her own TikTok-style video in July, which she shared on her Instagram.
Like Leo, she went along with the pointing-at-things trend too, but rather than big up a multinational corporation, AOC chose to share Covid-19 information and poke at her political rivals. The difference between their videos is stark. While they share a format, AOC is relaxed, confident and, importantly, oozes cool. Leo just looks uncomfortable.
Stick to Twitter, Leo.
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