# Young Men and Women's Political Shifts

> TikTok experiments reveal young women lean far left, men far right in German elections.
- Title: Young Men and Women's Political Shifts · EUobserver | Shortify
- Summary: TikTok experiments reveal young women lean far left, men far right in German elections. German teens found TikTok quickly shifts their political views toward…
- Keywords: germany, tiktok, afd, mecklenburg-vorpommern, young women, young men, political division, social media, politics, world, Young, Men
- Source: EUobserver — https://euobserver.com/240322/why-young-men-are-drawn-to-the-far-right-and-young-women-to-the-far-left
- Published: 2026-10-02T08:58:07+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: germany, tiktok, afd, mecklenburg-vorpommern, young women, young men, political division, social media, politics, world
## TikTok Experiment Begins
Greta and Lena, 16-year-old girls from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, deleted social media apps to test political content on TikTok during Germany's state elections.

> On 1 January, we both deleted Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat. And whichever of us would be the first to start watching Reels again or download Instagram would have to eat a slice of rotten cheese
## Political Content Emerges
After watching non-political videos for minutes, Greta and Lena encountered Erich Honecker and AfD co-leader Alice Weidel on TikTok during the election campaign.
## Shift to Far-Right Content
Greta noticed her TikTok feed rapidly changed to far-right content, including AfD videos, without prior search for political material.

> I feel as if it is constantly just AfD
## Algorithm-Driven Divide
TikTok algorithms accelerated political polarization, with young women increasingly exposed to far-right content while young men lean far right in German state elections.
## Election Results Confirm Trend
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern allowed 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in state elections, with AfD sweeping the state as young men lean far right and women far left.
## Key takeaway

German teens found TikTok quickly shifts their political views toward far-right parties, highlighting gender-based political divides.