Political influencers on platforms like YouTube and TikTok are already a force likely to shape how elections are covered even if they don’t swing votes.

Online influencers might not change the way you vote at the looming federal election but they’ll almost certainly shape how and why political events become ‘news’.

In a nation where up to 40 per cent of users on popular platforms like YouTube and TikTok get their news from influencers, they’re likely to play an increasing role in curating politics for new audiences.

These influencers range from professionals fully engaged in politics through to amateurs and their audiences of predominantly younger Australians.

Their expanding audiences emphasise the increasing hybridity of Australia’s political and media systems and how they’re shaping them.

The 2024 US presidential election showed the growing importance of social media influencers in electoral politics. Both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris courted various online personalities.

Trump appeared alongside Kick streamer Adin Ross and YouTuber Logan Paul while Democrat campaigners invited 200 influencers to the Democratic National Convention in August.

These were obvious strategies given influencers are now a regular source of news for 1-in-5 Americans and more than a third of under 30s.

Could influencers play a role in the Australian election?

Australia’s political influencer landscape is less developed than the US, though influencers increasingly shape how people engage with politics.

Research suggests that on Facebook only 14 per cent of users get their news from influencers, while on YouTube this........

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