TikTok the main communicational Guillermo Lasso's election strategy during the presidential elections in Ecuador 2021

Abstract

For the first time since its landing in Latin America, the social network of Chinese origin, TikTok, has been the protagonist in an electoral campaign. Its feverish expansion, favored by the global pandemic of the coronavirus, coincided with the General Elections of Ecuador in 2021, becoming a scene of dispute to reach its prolific diversity of audiences with digital propaganda. The objective of this study is to analyze the use of the social network TikTok by the conservative candidate Guillermo Lasso. For this purpose, a mixed analysis methodology was developed: quantitative and qualitative, which made it possible to elaborate a bibliographic compendium on emblematic cases of the American continent about political leaders who made use of social networks in their electoral campaigns; The metrics achieved on TikTok by Lasso during the electoral ballot are recorded, comparing them with those of his contender, Andrés Arauz, and ending with the description of the main narrative axes used by the winning candidate. While the electoral ballot was taking place, TikTok had 2.3 million followers in Ecuador and 34 % of these were between 18 and 24 years old. The videos of the finalists were viewed 80 million times and more than 7 million likes were shared between them. It concludes with the arguments that allow us to consider that the audiovisual campaign on TikTok was decisive for Lasso's triumph.