Chancellor Scholz on Instagram: Kindly, please

From 80,000 to 1.8 million: The number of Olaf Scholz’s Instagram followers grew massively almost overnight. Thanks to Merkel. But that doesn’t make him an Insta influencer by a long shot.

Olaf Scholz owes a lot to his predecessor in the Chancellery, as he expressly said again when the office was handed over four weeks ago. “Dear Ms. Merkel, dear Ms. Chancellor, I would like to thank you very much.”

Even if the SPD politician probably meant the previous cooperation in the cabinet and the subsequent smooth handover, thank you for other reasons: Because with the takeover of Angela Merkel’s Instagram account, Scholz has his followers with him a snap of the finger more than twentyfold. At that time, around 80,000 people followed his private account; as Federal Chancellor there are now 1.8 million.

Statesman instead of private snapshots

But that is also a challenge for Scholz. After all, of course, the following on Instagram wants to be entertained. They have seen around 40 contributions in the past four weeks, plus a few stories – but those who had hoped for private snapshots have so far been disappointed. First and foremost, the social media strategy seems to be to stage Scholz as a pure statesman, without any overly private insights.

US President Biden is followed by 18 million

The Americans show that there is another way: On President Joe Biden’s Instagram account, almost 18 million followers can also find a video of how he greets his new dog in the White House.

Like hardly any other platform, Instagram offers politicians space for staging. For example, several pictures from the government plane have been posted on the Federal Chancellor’s account in the past few weeks: Scholz on the gangway, on the way to Paris. Scholz on the sofa, the smartphone on his ear, Scholz smiles – Biden had just congratulated him on the new job. A touch of “House of Cards” wafts through the photo, thanks to the filter.

It still bumps

However, everything that happens on the Chancellor’s Instagram account doesn’t seem really round: The stories are not produced particularly filigree, sometimes Scholz is cut off in the middle of the word when excerpts from a speech are posted – for Feelgood -pampered Instagram users it doesn’t seem particularly attractive.

And while French President Emmanuel Macron sometimes films himself with his smartphone and wishes a Merry Christmas, Scholz’s Instagram account only shows the televised address.

The power of images

So far, the Chancellor has largely avoided deeper political messages on Instagram, perhaps also because his social media team knows that they are not necessarily in demand there either. It’s more about the power of images – and politics and social media go well together.

As Federal Chancellor, Scholz is of course an influencer by virtue of office – but more politically. As an Insta influencer, there is still room for improvement.