Key facts
- Mélenchon's campaign wants young supporters to join Facebook to argue politics with their parents, communications chief Antoine Léaument said.
- More than 40% of voters under 35 plan to back Mélenchon, against 14% or less among those over 50, per a Cluster17 poll for POLITICO.
- National Rally posts have drawn more than 2 million Facebook reactions since June, the most of any French party, per Visibrain.
- Léaument's open WhatsApp channel for France Unbowed activists counts over 170,000 members, the report said.
- Mélenchon has about twice the TikTok following of any other presidential candidate, according to the report.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon's campaign has asked his young supporters to sign up for Facebook to make the case for him to their parents, communications chief Antoine Léaument said, according to a POLITICO report published November 5. Léaument said the campaign is strong on other social platforms but called Facebook "one of the places where the digital battle could be decisive."
Mélenchon, 75, is the oldest candidate in next spring's race to replace Emmanuel Macron, the report said. More than 40% of voters younger than 35 plan to vote for him, according to a recent Cluster17 poll commissioned by POLITICO, while that figure falls to 14% or less across age brackets over 50. Audience measurement company Médiamétrie found Instagram and Snapchat have 35% more daily users than Facebook among 15-to-24-year-olds, and Mélenchon has about twice the TikTok following of any other presidential candidate, the report said.
On Facebook, Marine Le Pen's National Rally holds the advantage. Since June, National Rally posts have drawn more than 2 million reactions, more than any other French political party, according to Visibrain data shared with POLITICO. Visibrain said engagement on Facebook is "very concentrated" around the National Rally.
Léaument has been rallying France Unbowed activists through an open WhatsApp channel with over 170,000 members, posting calls to action and campaign clips. In a message to the channel he wrote: "WE MUST RE-ENGAGE WITH FACEBOOK AT ALL COSTS! WE MUST NOT LEAVE ANY GROUND TO THE FAR RIGHT." The approach is partly borrowed from Brazilian lawmaker André Janones, who used the messaging app to mobilize supporters of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva before his reelection, the report said.
Recent polls put Mélenchon in position for a second-place first-round finish, which would earn a runoff against Le Pen, who has held a double-digit lead for first place for months. Second-round surveys pitting the two show Mélenchon on track for a heavy defeat, though pollsters urge caution about runoff polling this early, the report said.