On Leadership: Young People Are Rewriting the Rules of Political Communication

Politics was once defined by backroom deals and grand speeches.

While those features are still present today, a new reality is emerging alongside them. Increasingly, politics unfolds and leadership is communicated through social media, from TikToks, X (previously known as Twitter) and Instagram Lives to podcasts and memes.

These new approaches to political engagement are being driven by late Millennials, Gen Z and Gen Alpha – many of whom are living their lives digitally and publicly, where personal identity, values and experiences are constantly shared, consumed, repackaged and scrutinised on social media in real time.

And the size of this group is not marginal. There are more than 1.8 billion young people globally, and nearly 90 per cent of them live in developing countries. In many of these contexts, institutions are fragile, democratic norms are under pressure and trust in leadership is declining. These young people are therefore struggling with a disconnect – they are growing up online but are frustrated to be coming of age politically in environments where traditional pathways to democratic participation and leader accountability are limited or slow.

The recent political crisis in Nepal starkly shows the real and imminent risk of not engaging with and respecting the concerns of this group.

How leaders choose to show up – what they say, where they say it and how they respond to their critics – matters more than ever. Today, they’re expected to be present not just in press rooms but also on the platforms where people actually communicate and share information: social-media platforms and podcast interviews – from Kamala Harris’s appearance on Alexandra Cooper’s sex-positive podcast Call Her Daddy to President Donald Trump sitting down with Joe Rogan. In some cases, the politician becomes a social-media “influencer”: the First Lady of Sierra Leone regularly goes live on TikTok to share personal and political messages and rally support for her different agendas.

Young people are already the world’s largest and fastest-growing voter base. And they are politically aware, digitally fluent and increasingly demanding a different kind of leadership. Any political leader who wants to communicate strategically, and lead effectively, must fundamentally aim to connect with this voter group and audience.

Raised in Crisis and Failing Systems, Mobilised Online

While every generation alive today has lived through war and political unrest, for most people those events were rarely experienced live unless you were there. News from elsewhere in the world arrived on a delay, filtered through broadcasters and stripped of graphic reality. But today’s young people are watching crises unfold in real time, on their phones, in cities close to home.

These are not distant headlines; they are immediate, visible and moving. The scale, frequency and visibility of crises today have created constant emotional proximity, accompanied by a quiet but growing fear that it’s only a matter of time before it reaches their doorstep. The result is a generation of young people who are more exposed and overwhelmed, but who are also better-informed and therefore better equipped to urgently mobilise their community and contacts.

And it’s not just conflict and crisis that spur action. Seemingly failing societal systems are a daily reality, and the urgent need for solutions is growing. According to PwC’s 2024 Global Youth Outlook survey, young people across 43 countries reported a lack of confidence that governments and businesses are doing enough to tackle global crises – from inequality to climate breakdown.

In Nepal, for instance, youth unemployment stands at more than 20 per cent, inflation is rising and public trust in government is collapsing. What began as a protest over a TikTok ban in September quickly grew into a youth-led political uprising, fuelled by frustrations over corruption, economic exclusion and the indifference of elites. The pressure forced the resignation of the prime minister, turning a digital uprising into real political change.

And as traditional systems struggle to respond, young people are turning to one another – not just to protest but to organise care. When institutional responses lag or fail, they fill the vacuum with speed and structure. Leaderless movements like #EndSARS have shown that mobilisation is not just about marching in the streets – it’s also about feeding each other, fundraising for the injured, coordinating legal aid and running helplines. These mutual-aid networks and informal support systems often stay in place even after the headlines fade, becoming examples of lasting responses to perceived state failure and proof of solidarity in action. Tragically, sometimes the cost of being heard – in some instances even before they are heard, as seen in the 2024 protests in Kenya – is the loss of people’s lives.

Moving at Speed in a World of Permacrisis

Constant visibility of global crises that demand attention translates directly into a sense of urgency. If I know, I must care. If I care, I must act. If I act, I expect impact.

Perhaps the first clear instance of social media driving action was in 2010, during the Arab Spring, when Facebook and Twitter – still nascent platforms – played a crucial role in helping young people mobilise. More recently, in Nigeria the #EndSARS protests demonstrated an extraordinary level of organisation, despite having no formal leaders, thanks to social media. If you could show up on the ground, you marched; if you couldn’t, you kept the conversation alive online – ensuring #EndSARS stayed trending long enough to capture global attention and force government action, culminating in the dissolution of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). Similar tactics are what made the 2025 Nepal protest so effective.

Governments need to get comfortable operating at speed online. Rapid-response units to monitor growing trends and quicker clearance processes for getting responses out on social media will help governments meet public demand in an environment increasingly shaped by rapid-fire communication.

Most government systems function in a way that encourages deliberation and delay – unlike dissent, which moves at digital speed. Digital connectivity has removed much of the traditional friction from political organising. Protests can be sparked and mobilised almost instantly through socials and online groups. What once took weeks of coordination can now unfold in hours, or even minutes. Activists don’t wait for permission, and will be screenshotting, posting and tagging while government is still trying to get everyone in a room to find a solution. That’s why any good communications director needs to be pushing not just their teams but a leader’s office to change the old approaches.

This requires rethinking more than just content: it means rethinking the system. Messaging must be rooted in clarity and relevance, not jargon or slogans. Response strategies must be fast, transparent and accountable. Planning must anticipate the pace and unpredictability of digital backlash, not just traditional media cycles.

Just as crucially, government communications specialists need to be clear to themselves and their teams that criticism online can’t be conflated with legitimate concerns about disinformation on social media. When governments fear the new online rules of engagement, they retreat from the very spaces where political legitimacy is now shaped. Avoiding social platforms out of discomfort with their tone, speed or unpredictability doesn’t neutralise dissent, it just leaves it unanswered. And when people, especially young people, feel ignored online, the conversation doesn’t end – it spills into the streets.

We need to frame a more politically engaged youth as a benefit to a country, not a threat.

The Political Opportunity (and Risk) of a Hyper-Connected Electorate

Access to political power is flattening. While this may seem like a threat to the established political order, it is a positive change and can help savvy politicians break through – as in Guatemala, where President Bernardo Arévalo gained momentum during the 2023 election by going viral among young voters on TikTok.

Today, direct contact with government isn’t necessary to enter the political conversation: anyone with a smartphone can do so – broadcasting publicly, visibly and at scale. Whether it’s on Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp or X, young people are shaping public discourse without needing press credentials or party affiliation. This kind of peer-to-peer visibility and agenda-setting can provide government and leaders with a critical opportunity for building political engagement and visibility.

It is however critical for leaders to note that visibility alone is not the answer. Feeling pressure to participate in viral moments is understandable, but trend-chasing without tone awareness is risky.

Rethinking Strategic Communications

So, what does all this mean in practice?

Rethinking government communications starts with a blunt truth: the old playbook no longer works. Press releases, tightly worded statements and coordinated press conferences still have a role but alone they’re not enough, and they are arguably less critical for the emerging new generation of online journalists. This generation isn’t waiting to be told what matters. They’re already shaping the narrative in real time, across TikTok, Threads, WhatsApp groups and X.

Broadly, an effective comms function needs to embed two key pillars.

1. Modern skills and the right resource: Every president or prime minister’s office should have a well-resourced, modern social-media team. This is not a creative add-on. It’s essential infrastructure. If you’re still relying on sporadic tweets and press calls, you’re not reaching the public. Social media is now a frontline space where opinions are formed, information is shared (or misinformation is spread), movements begin and trust is either built or lost. A competent digital team is not merely a broadcast unit. It’s how leaders listen, learn, test and respond to public sentiment before it becomes backlash.

2. Authenticity: This is the real test. A 2023 study found that higher levels of perceived political authenticity are directly linked to stronger party identification and voting intention. Young people prioritise transparency, conviction and straight talk.

What resonates isn’t polish, it’s presence. When Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s former prime minister, tearfully announced her resignation, admitting she no longer felt she could do the job justice, that moment of raw honesty struck a chord with many – it was praised as an act of integrity.

When leaders go silent, dodge tough questions or are resistant to attempts from comms teams to move the dial, public cynicism takes root. And that cynicism doesn’t just stay online, it turns into real-world consequences: disengagement, distrust or outright rebellion.

Here are some recommendations for political leaders and their comms teams on how to strike the balance online between authentic communication and strategic engagement that advances their objectives.

Listen First

• Start with listening. What’s being said, shared and challenged online? Where does public sentiment sit and how quickly is it shifting? Whether you’re using software or humans, this requires resource.

• Look for new approaches. Keep an eye on the trends and growing channels, as well as voices that are cutting through, and use the data to advocate for testing new ways of reaching your audience and engaging “influencers”. Experiment and iterate; don’t just stick to the old forms.

• Use social media to listen, learn and test. Don’t just use social platforms to announce policies – use them to analyse what young people are already saying across the platforms. What issues are they talking about and what language are they using? Tools like Instagram polls and X question boxes can also help to gather reactions to early-stage ideas or test sentiments towards draft interventions.

• Use feedback as content. The questions people are asking online should shape what you clarify next. Don’t just monitor sentiment – make responding to it part of your strategy.

Show Progress

• Build tools that show your work. Create public-facing dashboards to track delivery milestones and update them regularly.

• Report with evidence, not spin. Say what’s been done, what’s delayed and why. If you don’t explain it, young people will – quickly, publicly and with “receipts” to back it up – so don’t wait for scrutiny. The ease with which this generation can fact-check and amplify gaps in delivery should have leaders and their teams on their toes.

Go Where People Are

• Hire specialist social-media teams. This is as true for the leader’s office as it is for ministry-level communications.

• Communicate in formats people actually use. TikTok and Instagram Lives, posts across all social-media platforms, group chats and X spaces are becoming as important as townhalls, press conferences, op-eds and TV interviews.

• Work with trusted voices. Think about who young people listen to – key voices on preferred social-media platforms, youth leaders in civil society – and how you can work with them. Consider partnerships and roundtables on issues key to young people, or exclusive interviews.

• Understand how the new generation of journalists work. This includes those reporting on YouTube or TikTok. Tailor your media approach to help them share more accurate information.

• Be bold. When the old ways aren’t cutting it, be brave and try something new – this doesn’t mean presidents doing TikTok dances, but it does mean experimenting with less formal tone, different styles and faster approaches to getting content out.

• Be personally present. Comms is no longer something leaders delegate entirely. When leaders speak for themselves, and do it consistently, it builds trust.

• Prioritise consistency over perfection. You don’t need to go viral to achieve online impact. You need to show up regularly, clearly and honestly.

Step Up or Step Aside

In this new world, rhetoric alone doesn’t cut it, and speeches are often met with scepticism. What earns trust now is authentic and value-based leadership and communications, and proof – data, evidence and consistent follow-through, with results that are visible, verifiable and timely. Without this, leaders can expect to lose trust, or even legitimacy.

This generation is not waiting to be invited in. They’re already shaping the political conversation, mobilising at digital speed and demanding delivery they can see. The expectations have changed. The tools have changed. The public town square has changed. If political leaders want to remain relevant and trusted, they must adapt – reimagining how they do strategy, policy, delivery and communication for a generation that expects to participate, verify and hold power to account in real time.

This isn’t a communications problem. It’s a leadership imperative.

Our Credentials

Miriam McGrath is a TBI Senior Advisor, Strategic Communications, and former head of strategic communications in the UK Cabinet Office.

Wamaitha Mary is a TBI Associate for Delivery, supporting clients across Africa.

Mary Dain is a TBI Senior Advisor for Delivery, with 20 years’ experience leading health delivery across Africa, India, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Quote from Tony Blair taken from his 2024 book On Leadership: Lessons for the 21st Century.