In recent months, influencers have not stopped rubbing shoulders with politicians. We saw the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron invite the youtubers McFly and Carlito to the Elysée, the influencers Maïssane, Victoria Mehault, Isabeau, Lena and Neverly push the doors of the Ministry of the Interior to discuss domestic violence with Marlène Schiappa , Minister Delegate for Citizenship, and even Tibo InShape to promote for the government… But since January 23, Magali Berdah, aka the popess of reality TV, has taken her political show to the next level. 24 hours with… posted on YouTube.
The founder of Shauna Events, which represents most of the big French influencers, broadcast her first two programs of about thirty minutes where she meets with ingenuity the candidates declared for the 2022 presidential election. The light tone, Magali Berdah fully assumes her ignorance of the political world. She is there to meet the human and chooses to put herself at the height of her followers who are, for many, depoliticized. Lightness and sympathy are at the rendezvous. And so far the formula is a hit. The first episode with Eric Zemmour has already been viewed more than 500,000 times compared to nearly 200,000 times for the second episode with Jean-Luc Mélenchon, broadcast on February 2. Why did Magali Berdah embark on this program project? Doesn’t she take a risk to get along with the political world or, on the contrary, does she use this program to show what she is capable of?
“We do not engage in politics”
Intuitively, we would tend to think that an influencer who weighs more than a million subscribers would risk everything to engage in politics. Most reality TV stars refuse to position themselves. Last November, when Nabilla was questioned about the presidential election by Yann Barthès in Day-to-day, we feel embarrassed. Exiled to Dubai like many other influencers, she feels far from the daily life of the French. However, many of them -Sebydaddy, Laura Lempika, Nikola Lozina…- have relayed their boss’s show. Magali Berdah offered them to participate in this civic momentum, without obligation, and defends herself from bias. “We don’t get involved in politics. The video of Eric Zemmour and Jean-Luc Mélenchon are shot in the same way, I am in the discovery of the man, insists the young woman who has already booked three other aspirants to the Elysée in the coming days and who planned not to forget anyone. If my influencers had shared the video of Eric Zemmour and not that of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, it would be propaganda, except that it is not the case, ”she retorts. She even claims to prefer that an influencer not post anything rather than a single video.
“As an agency director, I realized that our social networks can be used for something other than product placement,” she continues. I try to engage my influencers who have been looked down upon for years. We did not immediately realize the impact we could have thanks to these platforms ”. It is also thanks to her significant meeting with Elisabeth Moreno, Minister Delegate for Gender Equality, Diversity and Equal Opportunities, that Magali Berdah realized that not all politicians are equal. . And that social networks could be used to communicate on social issues.
To those who would see in these videos a maneuver to end up on television, Magali Berdah reminds that she already animates The princes and princesses of love on W9 for three years and that she is a columnist in Do not touch My TV presented by Cyril Hanouna on C8 for four years. For her, it is above all a question of civic duty. “I try to introduce people like me who don’t understand politics. Many of my followers tell me: “Thanks to you, I’m going to vote”, she says. And Vincent Manilève, author of YouTube, behind the screens (Editions Lemieux) welcomes this result. “She puts herself at the height of the people who follow her, he points out. They feel close. His approach is detached from any critical gaze, it is this approach that is criticized. Because if the program received a wide echo, many voices rose to point to the impoverishment of the democratic debate in France.
“I wonder if we can still form a nation in a society of influence”
“If it is limited to being a parrot strategy, presenting oneself as a spokesperson for politicians, I think that the limit is reached fairly quickly, judge Anne-Claire Ruel, media and communication expert and founder of the account Instagram Call Pol which deciphers the 2022 presidential election. It’s useful for politics in the sense that there’s no contradiction, but for people watching, it’s just going to be a new format way intimate ambition by Karine Le Marchand, except that we are addressing a new audience. We focus on the personality of the politicians in question and, for her, politicians have everything to gain. An open-mic program where the candidate can unfold his speech.
“We stage a personality, personal experiences, we make someone sympathetic and we hide the political issues, the vision of society, how we make a nation today”, worries Anne-Claire Ruel for whom the Magali Berdah’s program addresses a bubble. It affects “only” a million people. Not to mention the millions of subscribers to the accounts of those who relayed its content. “I wonder if we can still form a nation in a society of influence, if we reason in channels, if there is no more contradictory debate, if there is no longer any intermediary to decode, it’s scary. This may lead some people to look in more detail but I do not feel that it serves the debate, ”laments the communication specialist who adds that the campaign has still not started.
Next social media minister?
Overexposed in the media, Magali Berdah is used to receiving criticism and ignoring it. “I don’t pretend to say that my videos are sharp, I show different universes with different ways of thinking. All the candidates are going to be nice so people won’t choose on the criterion of sympathy, she replies. If I start to build a political discourse, people don’t need me, they watch BFMTV, I won’t hit my target. She explains without shame being at level 0 of the understanding of the workings of an electoral campaign, like millions of French people. Thanks to her show, she discovered, for example, the famous 500 signatures that the candidates seek to collect from the mayors in order to be able to officially launch themselves in the race for the presidency. She does not hide her shortcomings, on the contrary she uses them as a lever to reach the abstainees.
Because the stated objective of Magali Berdah is to bring her followers back to the polls. Recall that the abstention rate in the 2021 regional elections was more than 65%. In the 2017 presidential election, it exceeded 25% in the second round. Those who are already interested in the presidential campaign will not watch her videos and that’s a good thing since she’s not aimed at them. She hopes to create desires among those who, like her, have long since turned away from the ballot box. But behind this good deed, there is another issue for her. “Weighing in on the debate on social networks and the profession of influencers. She is lobbying for the recognition of this profession,” observes Vincent Manilève. And Magali Berdah confirms. “I want to professionalize my job. I will raise the fact that there are no regulations on social networks”. Will Magali Berdah allow the creation of a ministry of social networks? In any case, she blows the idea to each candidate.