Lawmakers of the People Power Party (PPP) have recently rushed to join Threads, a text-based social networking service. The move is seen as an attempt to expand their political presence by targeting a community crowded with conservative-leaning young people. However, some worry that in courting hardline conservative supporters, politicians' messages could tilt toward emphasizing ideological sharpness alone.
According to political circles Tuesday, PPP lawmakers have been joining Threads one after another. PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok created a Threads account on May 10, about a month before the local elections.
Threads is a text-based SNS operated by Meta. Its features resemble those of X, formerly Twitter, but the tendencies of its main users show a clear difference. Unlike X, the main stage for progressive-leaning women in their 20s and 30s, Threads has a high proportion of conservative-leaning young users. A notable feature is that many hardline conservative users are present, with posts calling for the release of former President Yoon Suk-yeol receiving thousands of "likes."
In line with the characteristics of its users, politicians are also putting out more direct and hardline messages. Within the PPP, Supreme Council member Kim Min-soo enjoys great popularity with about 112,000 followers. He is followed by lawmaker Joo Jin-woo (about 70,000), lawmaker Na Kyung-won (about 39,000), and lawmaker Kim Min-jeon (about 27,000), who are also drawing attention on Threads. Leader Jang has gathered about 20,000 followers. While Facebook is used as a channel for announcing official positions, on Threads politicians stand out for communicating more intimately with users through short posts and replies.
Within the party, the mood is that there is no choice but to invest effort in Threads, given that it is an SNS densely populated with conservative supporters. The reason is that its response speed and diffusion power are far greater than those of other SNS platforms. Multiple officials said, "It is a space that can raise a politician's name recognition and expand their presence within the conservative camp more than a filibuster or a parliamentary audit."
However, some point out that, given the nature of a platform concentrated with hardline supporters, politicians too could become excessively radicalized. As the reactions of supporters of a particular tendency are overrepresented, there is a possibility that politicians will fall into step and enter a "rightward-shift competition." On Threads, some PPP lawmakers can be seen using the term "drum can," an expression used in far-right online communities to demean President Lee Jae-myung. During the recent local elections, when Starbucks sparked controversy over mocking the May 18 Democratization Movement, the PPP's North Chungcheong provincial chapter drew criticism by posting, "I will go to Starbucks tomorrow."
