Premier Steven Miles becomes unlikely star of TikTok
Premier Steven Miles has made himself an unlikely star of social media – and there are signs it may be helping his campaign.
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Apparently, Premier Steven Miles is rizzing up Gen Z.
No, that is not a sentence I thought I would ever write. But yes, I do understand what I just said.
For those not currently a member of, nor parenting or even grand-parenting a Gen Z member, ‘rizz’ is slang for charisma, but can be used as a verb. Translated, Premier Steven Miles is proving popular with the young folk these days … something I did not see on my 2024 bingo card.
I discovered this unexpected news from a source very close to home, my own son. Walking past his bedroom last week, I heard his disembodied voice call out: “Mum, do you know who Steven Miles is?”
Shocked by this unexpected name drop, I turned to see my teen’s face, under-lit by the ever-present glow of an iPhone, as he flashed what did appear to be the Queensland Premier’s smiling mug in my direction.
I quickly explained to him that, yes, I knew who Steven Miles was … but did he?
“Yeah, he’s that funny guy on TikTok, I like him.”
Now, in this family I have certainly indoctrinated my children to dislike Donald Trump, but state politics has never really been the topic of discussion at the dinner table.
I have tried, believe me, but I can’t hold their attention like, well, Steven Miles. And before you write off my son’s opinion as one that won’t have any actual impact anytime soon … he’s just one year off voting age, and he’s at the tail-end of Gen Z. Plenty of his generation are already registered voters.
To be fair, Opposition leader David Crisafulli is also active on the app, but the difference seems to come down to their relative growth in followers.
Back in February, Mr Crisafulli had about 30,000 followers, while Mr Miles had just 10,000. But now, Mr Crisafulli has 30,800 followers, while Mr Miles has 36,300.
Clearly, the Premier has some X factor that’s cutting through to Gen Z.
While Boomers might be baffled by Mr Miles’s social media campaign, and Gen X don’t really care (oh well, whatever, nevermind … right?), and millennials are more concerned about how many smashed avos it takes to buy a house, taking to TikTok makes perfect sense to those born between the late 1990s and noughties
It also makes sense as a strategy, because when it comes to these older generations, how many swinging voters are there, really?
Sure, there will be a certain small percentage in each demographic who might change their minds, but the actual numbers are pretty small. The exception, of course, is young voters.
Indeed, research by the ABC’s Vote Compass showed most older voters have an underlying habit of voting one way or the other, with few truly undecided.
“Most people who are older in life have got firm views and political habits,” said ABC election analyst Antony Green.
“Younger people are less wedded to one political party, they’ve thought less about politics and they’re more open for persuasion.”
Exactly.
So if you’re going to find new votes, start with Gen Z rather than trying to persuade rusted-on Boomers or even Gen X to switch sides.
It’s a strategy that’s reaping rewards overseas as well. Just look at US Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign as the presidential nominee for the Democrats.
The Kamala HQ account on Instagram, run by self-confessed ‘feral 25-year-olds’, has helped see her star rise to the stratosphere.
In just four weeks, they’ve gained a ton of engagement across Instagram, TikTok and other platforms by engaging sounds, trends and visuals that are relatable for Gen Z, while also using humour to hit out at Trump and his VP pick JD Vance.
Now, what exactly is Mr Miles doing on TikTok that’s resonating with the youth? I have no idea, one look in the mirror tells me I’m not the target market.
But I can confirm that if he did the Charli XCX Apple dance, it would be so sigma.
If you understand that, well, I guess that’s at least good news for the future of print.
Originally published as Premier Steven Miles becomes unlikely star of TikTok
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