In recent years, Cypriot politicians have spent increasingly more time online. They fire off messages, exchange views, and respond to their voters, seemingly transferring the traditional town hall environment into the digital reality of the feed. At the same time, research shows that although social media has become a central battleground of campaigning, its true persuasive power remains limited and entirely dependent on algorithms, platform agendas and human psychology.
Ever more complex algorithms and the lack of real training within political teams complete the picture. When Facebook’s algorithm changes, so does what media outlets and candidates choose to post. TikTok’s personalised “For You” feed can trap young people in a narrow political corridor without them realising it. In small countries such as Cyprus, where only a handful of actors dominate the digital field, such algorithmic shifts can propel one candidate to prominence or erase another entirely. And although globally we see a degree of “monetisation” and professionalisation of digital campaigning, the Cypriot reality remains largely ad hoc. Campaigns rely on instinct, speed and imagery rather than data and strategy.
Within this context, and with the 2026 parliamentary elections approaching, it becomes important to examine how social media is actually used by politicians and their teams in Cyprus. Not only what they post, but also what they believe “works”.
“We will see it all”
Leontios Philotheou, who headed the campaign of 2023 presidential candidate Andreas Mavroyiannis, describes a picture that echoes academic research on the appeal of “authentic” content. TikTok may not have been as dominant in 2023, but, as he told Politis, ensuring the candidate’s presence across various platforms, primarily Facebook, was a campaign priority. What the Mavroyiannis team aimed for was to highlight the candidate’s personality and character alongside his policy positions and manifesto. For instance, Sunday “throwback” photos from different moments in his life added a more human and personal tone to the campaign. Their strategy, he explained, was to use the platforms to familiarise followers with his particular character, previously absent from social media, and the lesser-known aspects of his career. They wanted people to get to know him. “The goal was authenticity,” he said.
In 2023, however, toxicity, troll activity and fake accounts had not yet evolved into the noisy ecosystem that now shapes much of political communication. “We will see it all,” he remarked, referring to the expected communication chaos in the run-up to the parliamentary vote.
In recent years, Elon Musk’s platform, formerly Twitter, has become incredibly toxic, Philotheou noted. “Character assassination from fake profiles has no political impact, nor does it resonate with voters,” he explained. The online bullying politicians face aims to discourage them from posting and promoting their work. The result is the creation of an echo chamber formed by very few users who do not represent either the majority of voters or the wider perception of current affairs. In essence, many of the most viral posts depicting heated clashes on the platform end up reproducing a toxic environment relevant only to active political figures on X, their relatively few followers compared to the electorate, and anonymous trolls.
Substance lies in political work
Although she is perhaps the most active MP on X, Irene Charalambidou does not believe her presence or commentary on social media generates political capital. Her activity, she says, is driven by a commitment to inform. She prioritises clarifying her positions on key issues and promoting her actions, such as fighting for official OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) complaints or making speeches at the World Bank. She does not consider social media to have contributed to her becoming the top vote-getter, twice. Instead, she criticises politicians who, as she puts it, “build star systems around their image” using fake accounts and paid promotion. She acknowledges that she is often targeted, even with sexist attacks, but argues that transparency and freedom of expression are non-negotiable. She has filed numerous complaints, submitted legal proposals and contacted various organisations to defend this right.
“Because I come from journalism, I often feel deprived of my pen,” she said. “That is why I try to express myself through social media as a means of immediate contact with the public. But for me, emphasis should still be placed on newspapers and press releases. That is where the substance is, in political work.”
The importance of speed
A former parliamentary associate who worked on social media during a recent electoral campaign notes that there was no pre-planned or research-based strategy, a pattern that appears in many Cypriot campaigns. Arguing that political communication here has not yet matured to the standards abroad, he explains that during that campaign, the aim was for videos of visits and events to be posted immediately and through the candidate’s official channels. This urgency, he believes, “brought” nearly 20,000 new followers to the candidate’s profile.
Enter the 2026 elections
In recent months, as the parliamentary elections approach, we have seen a shift in the social-media strategies of aspiring MPs and party communication teams alike.
Orestis Matsas, a research specialist at the University of Cyprus and AKEL candidate in Nicosia, is active on all major platforms, acknowledging that each functions differently. On some platforms, he says, the algorithm creates communication bubbles that give politicians a false sense of influence. Echo chambers are reinforced by algorithms that feed users only what they find pleasant or appealing. “The algorithm favours very superficial analysis, resulting in unsubstantiated and manipulated messages that erode public discourse; we are not cultivated in political thinking.” On the case of Fidias, he recognises that Cypriot society was forced to adapt to the current reality of social media and their capacity to elect anyone.
“Real politics, however, cannot be produced on social media. You can easily inform your audience -and sometimes expand it- but political work does not emerge from posts,” he says, adding that if one understands how these platforms operate, one can “play” the game of image. “We are entering an era where if a politician does not use social media, they will simply fade away.”
He explains that we are heading into a period where our feeds will be saturated with electoral content, which may even provoke the opposite effect due to public fatigue. Political capital, he argues, will only be gained by those already established in the public sphere or by those who deploy genuinely innovative strategies, such as the New York campaign of Zohran Mamdani. “His campaign was pioneering, modern yet authentic. It was grounded in his political message while embracing the trends of the moment, and that’s what won him the race,” he said.
What about strategy?
Chara Zymara, parliamentary associate of MP Alexandra Attalidou and communications specialist, describes a broadly similar picture across candidate strategies. “With the speed of today’s trends on social media, even attempting a specific strategy keeps you a step behind, because the algorithm changes constantly.” As a result, they attempt -through a collaborator creating content (captions, infographics, etc.)- to generate momentum around political actions. This, however, is done using a simple model, without an evidence-based framework. She adds that due to new EU legislation, politicians are not allowed to use paid campaigns on social platforms to promote their material. “We rely on a multitude of communication actions,” she says, such as circulating press releases or opinion pieces to news outlets. Social media, she concludes, can more easily reach younger people who do not use traditional media for political information.
What academic research shows - the Fidias factor
A new study by academics Vasiliki Triga and Nikandros Ioannidis on the 2024 European elections and the rise of YouTuber Fidias Panayiotou, published online on 29 September 2025, shows that the 24-year-old’s success was neither accidental nor simply “the result of viral content.” The researchers document how Fidias, whose social-media following far exceeded the number of registered voters in Cyprus, managed to convert his online reach into real political power, winning 19.4% and a seat in the European Parliament. His campaign, built almost entirely on platforms such as YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, drew in younger and politically disengaged voters, pulled support from across the party spectrum, and capitalised on public fatigue toward traditional parties. The study stresses that the Fidias case is not merely a story of an unconventional candidate, but a demonstration of how personality, perceived authenticity and continuous online presence can, in an environment of institutional distrust, prove more effective than entire party machines.
Placed alongside the wider international literature on social media in politics, the message that emerges is that the most “effective” accounts are not those with the most polished videos or the highest numbers, but those that manage to activate specific, often disillusioned segments of the electorate. Fidias' example shows how a content creator, in a moment of deep public disappointment with parties, can translate his following into votes. And it underscores that for most candidates operating in the Cypriot context, social media primarily acts as an amplifier, speaking to existing political circles, keeping relationships with supporters alive, aiding the spread of messages, but rarely suffices on its own to shift an electoral outcome.