On social media, the French presidential campaign has kicked off earlier and much stronger than in 2022.
Just in September, over 6.4 million posts related to the election were published on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, and Bluesky, averaging 216,000 posts each day.
On social media, the presidential campaign has started earlier and much stronger than the previous one, indicates Thursday, October 1, the social media analysis platform Visibrain. "The volume of posts already far exceeds those observed at the same time before the 2022 election," writes Visibrain.
Just in September, over 6.4 million messages related to the election were published on social media (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, Bluesky, etc.), averaging 216,000 posts each day. This is four times more than at the same time before the 2022 election.
Visibrain offers several reasons for this significant volume of posts, notably a larger number of polls this early in the year compared to previous elections. Several events also marked the month of September: the results of the far-right AfD party in Germany, which sparked numerous reactions from French political leaders; Marine Le Pen's campaign launch on September 13; Emmanuel Macron's speech on September 18; and lastly, the revelations by Mediapart regarding Jordan Bardella.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Marine Le Pen and Gabriel Attal are the most mentioned.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon is the candidate generating the most discussion: he was cited in 1.2 million messages in September, far ahead of Marine Le Pen and Gabriel Attal, who ranked second and third respectively. The candidate from La France insoumise is also the one who receives the most "likes" on his posts, particularly on TikTok where he garnered over 2.1 million "likes" in September, twice as many as Marine Le Pen and three times as many as Gabriel Attal.
Each candidate has their strategy on social media. Some are betting on specific platforms to reach particular voter demographics. Investing in LinkedIn, as particularly done by Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, Gabriel Attal, or Marine Tondelier, allows for reaching higher socio-professional categories. Posting on TikTok allows for better targeting of young people.
An article written by franceinfo (Radio France), initially published on 1 October 2026, 15:17 (CEST)
