Does video-first social media favor political outsiders over establishment media?
Core argument: Text-based social media favored mainstream journalism because pithy writing helped and chronological feeds rewarded news, while the pivot to video shifts the balance toward charisma, energy and delivery over being first.
These platforms are fundamentally different. Text-based social media still favoured mainstream journalism, partly because pithy writing helps — and the chronological feed rewarded news. With the pivot to video, the balance tilts the other way. On TikTok and Instagram, the currency is charisma, energy and delivery: being first is less important than being hyper-engaging. This is another thumb on the scale for political outsiders. The upstart media is by definition less cosy with establishment politicians, and independence from big legacy brands also means it is free to host and publish what mainstream media would not. Research shows the most recent class of news influencers lean slightly right in terms of their politics, but even those with different politics are anti-establishment.

