Jakob Berg has been in Birmingham over the past few days and was able to present the first part of his dissertation project entitled "German Celebrities and Political Communication on Social Media - Opinion Leadership and Endorsements" at COMPTEXT (external link, opens in a new window) 2026.
Initial results show that political communication by celebrities on social media is rare in Germany, but at the same time can have a strong and significant effect on the performance of politicians and parties on Instagram. Posts in which the support of a celebrity is visible achieve an average of 44% more likes and comments.
