If they won’t follow you - pass the microphone
Here’s an uncomfortable truth for people who talk policy for a living (and those of us who advise them).
Most people aren’t looking to follow you on social media.
It’s not that they don’t care what you do, or the outcomes of the decisions you help get made. It’s not personal. It’s not even your politics. It’s just there are a lot more interesting accounts out there with more fun things to talk about.
But here’s the thing - they’ll probably follow someone they can relate to. Or an account that shares ideas, policies and news in a way that makes sense to them.
Your audience hasn’t disappeared. They’ve just moved to new channels. It’s time to tune in.
the new reporters.
One of the big selling points of social media is direct access to your audience. After years of courting journalists and being at the mercy of their framing and bias, that sounds great. But there's no guarantee the right people are listening — not if you're still broadcasting from a single official account into the void.
The smartest operators are building a chorus instead. A loose ecosystem of voices that can pick up a message and carry it further than any press release ever could. These aren't your dad's journalists. They're creators and community figures who look like their audience, cover the issues, and have earned genuine trust.
Take comedian Cody Dahler who stops his audience from looking like a “thicky, thicky dumb, dumb” by giving them the lowdown on big world events.
It’s not traditional journalism. His reporting is laced with expletives and a clear bias. But the combination of deadpan delivery with a growing sense of incredulousness at what world leaders are doing clearly lands with his audience.
His comments are often filled with people praising his honest and reliable reporting.
Then there’s Chris Kohler, Australian millennials’ favourite economist.
By day he is Finance Editor for 9 News, but on Instagram he’s posting sketches highlighting how corporations and policy decisions are putting the squeeze on Aussies.
His comments section is also filled with praise for explaining complex concepts in a understandable way.
At a local level there is the Tight Knit crew and Tully’s Takes. Clearly left-leaning and very low budget, Tully Connor’s reports on the Brisbane City Council meetings are finding an audience who appreciate her blend of humour, enthusiasm and insights into council’s activities.
Once again, the comments are filled with praise, for shining a light on what’s happening at the most local level of government.
Whether you agree with these creators or not - check their stats. They are clearly hitting the mark and getting people to watch and share content about subjects that are increasingly considered too boring for mainstream news.
People aren’t switched off - they’re just not watching your channel.
The "young people don't care about politics" line is one of the most persistent myths going around — and it lets a lot of organisations off the hook for not doing the work.
Gen Z care deeply about housing, climate, cost of living, and the world they're inheriting. What they don't care about is the format you've been using to reach them.
They're not watching the 6pm news. But they are watching a creator they trust break down a budget announcement in 90 seconds.
They're not reading your op-ed. But they are sharing a thread from someone who explains the same idea without the jargon.
Pass the microphone to people who speak their language, in the places they already hang out — and your message travels.
the practical bit:
So what does this actually look like? And more importantly - how do you do it?
Find your amplifiers.
Who already talks about the issues you work on? Creators, community advocates, industry voices, local identities - these are your people.
Build actual relationships with them, encourage people to be in your videos or to collaborate with you.Make sharing easy.
If you want people to amplify your content, give them something worth sharing. Short, punchy, visually clear videos. Not another PDF report.Think ecosystem, not account.
Your official page is just one node. The goal is to have multiple AUTHENTIC accounts that each reach a different slice of the audience you need.They’re talking about the same policy platform and the same person - but shaping the message in different ways for different audiences.
Own a second voice.
Take @malihq26 — the Labor Party's GenZ-coded account for South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas. While his main account does the official announcements and social media we’ve come to expect from Premiers, @malihq26 is for a different audience.
It leans into the fact this account is not run by the Premier and posts the behind-the-scenes moments and rough and ready content GenZ finds relatable. Same person. Totally different register. And a completely different audience finding him relatable in a way to his usual social media.
The political space didn't lose young audiences because the issues got less interesting. We lost them because we kept broadcasting on a frequency nobody's tuned to anymore.
Find the people they are listening to. And hand over the mic.
