FES impuls Bendix Hügelmann Between Professionali­sation and Perplexity Social media in the 2021 Bundestag election campaign AT A GLANCE Social media means simultaneity of action and re­ception. This significantly increases the pressure on candidates for political office: there is practi­cally no room for error when dealing with one’s own public image. Social media was therefore a key factor conditioning success in the 2021 fed­eral election. Although parties and politicians have recognised the relevance of social media in prin­ciple, when it comes to resolute and professional implementation, they have, however, failed as yet to have fully grasped the importance of social media, as the 2021 election campaign has shown. Social media has established itself as a form of political com­munication. The campaigns in the 2021 federal election have demonstrated this with varying degrees of forcefulness. The communication effort made by the political parties and poli­ticians has increased across all channels, in some cases consid­erably, compared to 2017. This is not only reflected in the ­intensity of use, but also in the organisations themselves. The divide between digital and analogue communication, which was problematic in the context of the 2017 campaigns, seems to have been for the most part bridged in 2021, at least when it comes to party strategists. At the same time, however, it also became apparent that not all levels of party democracy are keeping pace with the demands of the digital transformation in equal measure. With regard to competence in the implementation of digital communication measures and strategies, the first fissures are appearing at different levels of organisation: While digital competence has been expanded and strengthened at party headquarters, it is up to the candidates ’ teams in the constitu­encies to meet the requirements of a digital and modern election campaign. While it is true that the parties provide support in order to build up human resource competencies in constituencies, it nevertheless became apparent during the Bundestag election campaign that not everything that is tech­nically and conceptually possible and appropriate could be implemented evenly across different organisational levels. This is mainly due to the fact that the demands placed on can­didates, which go hand in hand with use of the appropriate channel of social media, have increased considerably. The largely voluntary structure of candidates ’ teams in the constit­uencies may be starting to run up against constraints. In ­order to avoid a digital divide within the parties, capacities in this area need to be expanded even more in the future. DIGITAL BROADSIDE? Social media communication during the election campaign mainly took place on the familiar platforms, i.e. Facebook, ­Instagram and Twitter. In addition, new channels and forms of communication such as TikTok were tried out in scattered cases. Live streaming formats such as Twitch or AudioOnly content still played a minor role in this election summer. The following five general observations can be made with re­gard to the relevance of social media in the 2021 federal elec­tion campaign. 1. THE RELEVANCE AND IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA HAS CONTINUED TO GROW This election summer has brought one thing very clearly to light: In a thoroughly digitised public media sphere, there is virtually no room for error for the top candidates anymore. The theoretical possibility that every situation in the election ­campaign can be captured by image or video and introduced into the discourse in real time means that, in very practical terms, moments in which a leading candidate steps out of character have a direct impact on the overall perception of the party, the candidate and the campaign. This involves less ­specific occasions as such, but rather the consequential effect in the reception of corresponding events: The scene showing Armin Laschet in the area devastated by the flood smirking in BETWEEN PROFESSIONALISATION AND PERPLEXITY— FES impuls 1