Tik Tok: The platform that played a major role in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's victory in the Punjab by-elections
After Twitter, WhatsApp and Facebook, the country's political climate has finally caught up with Tik Tok and now political slogans, statements and hashtags are everywhere on Tik Tok.
It is not that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf is the only political party on Tik-Tok, but there is no doubt that in the race of conveying its narrative and political message to the people through Tik-Tok, PTI seems to be ahead of other parties.
PTI's official Tik Tok account currently has over a million followers, more than any political party's account.
Imran Khan's critics, who once called him the 'Prime Minister of Social Media', have also been forced to believe that after PTI's surprise victory in the Punjab by-elections, you Imran Khan's narrative is behind it. ''And it is promoted through social media''.
After the no-confidence motion against former Prime Minister Imran Khan was successful, when his party's narrative of #imported_governance_disapproved came out, while this hashtag was the top trend on Twitter for several days in Pakistan, this hashtag was also trending on Tik Tok. And the narrative went viral and TikTok videos using the hashtag were viewed more than a billion times.
Dr Arslan Khalid, head of PTI's digital wing, says the popularity of Imran Khan's narrative on Tik Tok has forced him to make Tik Tok a regular part of his digital strategy.
"We knew the importance of this platform for a long time, but it was banned many times during our regime due to various reasons, but after seeing the success of the movement on Tik Tok after April 9, we As a party, we decided that we will encourage these people and therefore Imran Khan also met Tik Talkers.
Sharjeel Avish was also among the Tik-Tokers who were invited to meet Imran Khan.
He says that I am a big fan of Imran Khan since childhood. He told us in the meeting that now the time of TV is gone and in remote areas of Pakistan where there is no TV, young people watch Tik Tok with passion, so you should convey the message of truth to the people through this platform.
And Sharjeel did the same. Through his Tik Tok videos, he urged people to vote for PTI in the Punjab by-election.
''Tik Tok is watched by shopkeepers, shopkeepers, barbers, so I know that we can reach as many people through Tik Tok as we can't through Twitter and Instagram or TV.'' It is used by people in every corner of Pakistan.
Sharjeel is right that Tik Tok is popular even where TV and Twitter are not and Sajjad and his twin brothers from Jhal Magsi in Balochistan are proof of this.
It may not be possible that those who use social media regularly have not seen funny Tik Tok videos of Bani Sajjad and his brother on the speeches of Shahbaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz.
Sajjad says that through his Tik Tok videos, he wants to send a message to the authorities that inflation has broken the back of the common people.
We belong to a backward area of Balochistan. Our reach is not to the people sitting in the government, but we are trying to convey the pain of the people to them through our Tik Tok videos.
The videos on Sajjad's Tik Tok account have been viewed more than 58 million times so far, while his videos are eagerly shared on Twitter by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf leaders and supporters.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf Digital Media Head Dr. Arsalan Khalid says that he did not give any money to TikTokers for this campaign and Sharjeel and Sajjad also agreed with Dr. Arsalan.
''Perhaps this will be the first campaign for which TikTokers did not take a single rupee.''
Manahil Malik has about eight lakh followers on Tik Tok. She says that she gave a message to people to 'support Haq and vote' in the by-election because as a Tik Tok celebrity, it is her responsibility to educate people.
However, even before PTI, political and religious parties used Tik Tok to publicize their narratives, including Muslim League-Nun and Tehreek-e-Labaik.
Muslim League-Nun activist Saud Butt's videos for his party went viral and when he was arrested by the police in August 2020 on charges of rioting, there was a backlash from his fans.
Similarly, when Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan launched a campaign to boycott French goods against the publication of obscene cartoons of the Prophet of Islam, it was well received on Tik Tok.
But the PTI's pro-PTI narrative on TikTok and the party's regular inclusion of it in its digital strategy proved to be as beneficial to them as perhaps no other political party.