TikTok Regional Election Monitoring 2024: Methods Report

This methods report outlines the TikTok Regional Election Monitoring 2024 study conducted by the Potsdam Social Media Monitor (PSMM). The research examined the exposure of politically neutral young voters to content from various political parties on TikTok in three German states (Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia). Using a novel framework of Social Research Bots (SRBs), the study collected data on 229,807 videos between August 13 and October 6, 2024. The SRBs were designed to mimic user behavior while avoiding clear partisanship, allowing for analysis of exposure to official party accounts and party-affiliated content. This approach combines web scraping, sock puppet audits, and experimental variation to provide insights into the effectiveness of different political parties in reaching potential voters on TikTok. The study's findings have implications for understanding the role of social media algorithms in shaping political exposure among young voters.