How Student Run Twitter Account ‘PoliticsForAll’ Beat Mainstream Media By Cracking Twitter’s Algorithm

Since starting in 2019, they have racked up more than 293,000 followers by simplifying news and repackaging stories in less than 280 characters.

In May, an article published in the Byline Times revealed that news and politics account PoliticsForAll, was run by Nick Moar, an 18 year old Conservative Brexiteer. Many followers criticised the account for Tory bias and inaccurately characterising stories. Having followed the account myself for over a year, PoliticsForAll generally has a moderately fair balance of news that covers stories which praise and criticize the current government, though a quick scroll through the tweets about Labour and other issues will highlight the cause of concern quickly.

PoliticsForAll has had a noticeable effect on people who are traditionally not interested in politics, due to the short and flashy format which is easy to read for everyone, especially those who don’t want to read the articles in full. Naturally, this means it’s easier for people to take things out of context and has already overall reduced the quality of the discourse.

The engagement PoliticsForAll generates often feels reminiscent of an A-level politics class gone rogue, with a variety of colourful personalities competing for the reply with the most likes and most outrageous view.

Among the sea of Jeremy Clarkson “Oh no, anyway” memes, which is used often sarcastically to show disinterest in whatever story PoliticsForAll has deemed newsworthy, is anti-SNP account BritishAlba, who is infamous for defending the Conservative government and GB News, or really anything that wraps itself in the Union Jack.

Of course you would expect trolls and other characters to engage in all corners of the Twitterverse, but what’s different here is the type of followers and their engagement directly reflects the appeal and brand PoliticsForAll has created.

Retweeted by the likes of Piers Morgan, journalists and various politicians, PoliticsForAll has succeeded at establishing itself as a credible source. Although it doesn’t have the brash red top branding as The Sun and other rags, their media strategy and tactics don’t fall far from it. The fundamental similarity between the two is the chronic obsession with providing affirmation for the audience, rather than information, because it’s the very ecosystem that drives their engagement and popularity.

PoliticsForAll knows that a tweet saying Samaritan volunteers have been shagging vulnerable callers, is humorous to some of its base. However when it minimises the facts and objective of the story, particularly in this case where women were abused, it’s malpractice (they later deleted and corrected the tweet), and it’s one of many examples of them pandering to the wrong crowd. Designing content to be reactionary so it causes panic and outrage amongst people is a method many media outlets practice and infact credit their whole business model on, and PoliticsForAll is no different no matter how harmless their intention.

On their Patreon bio it says, “I run the account as I really enjoy providing news and I love reading all the comments, I do read 99% of them.” Maybe this is part of the problem? The hyperfixation on comment sections to see what other people think, often before even reading the article itself and developing your own opinion, has created the wrong priority for followers who should want to be informed, and the wrong motive for a news source which should only commodify the truth, if anything. However, as humans living in an increasingly digital age, we would subconsciously rather be entertained than be informed.

PoliticsForAll has achieved its main objective. To provide people of all political faiths, political ammunition to facilitate the ongoing culture wars and grievances of different groups. All while generating thousands of likes and retweets to keep driving up their follower count and stay present on people’s timelines.