Editorial. "FB Direct": With a few tens of thousands of views, YouTuber François Bayrou's first video shows modest results.

Being present on social media is a quest for many French politicians. François Bayrou also launched his YouTube presence on Tuesday, in the middle of summer, with the first episode of "FB Direct," a series intended to be educational about the upcoming budget.

At 74, the Prime Minister is embarking on a career as a YouTuber. But it's no disrespect to say that this career is unlikely to be a success. His first video , posted online on Tuesday, August 5 at 5 p.m., with a great deal of political communication, had only been viewed the next morning by nearly 40,000 people, roughly the size of the town of Compiègne in the Oise department, which is at least 50 times fewer than that of a successful YouTuber like Cyprien or Squeezie.

While François Bayrou may have chosen a medium that is different from television or radio, in this video he doesn't respect any social media codes. In terms of form, he appears in a shirt and tie against a library backdrop. In terms of content, he doesn't reveal anything personal, he doesn't provide any new information, and simply expands on, while dramatizing it even more, France's financial situation, something he had already explained at length in his speech on July 15.

The choice of this mode of communication is therefore strange, especially since it comes in the middle of summer. This can be explained by three reasons. First, on social media, the risk is minimal. If it doesn't work, it will be enough to discreetly stop. French politicians have regularly made aborted entries on the platforms: in 2021, for example, Gabriel Attal launched his own show on Twitch, but abandoned it after the first episode.

There's a second reason for this video series, "FB Direct," in its title. Politicians have an irresistible urge to speak directly to the French, bypassing the filters of traditional media and journalists' questions. Finally, when social media is chosen, the goal is always to reach young people. But here, for the reasons mentioned above, it's not certain that the target audience will be reached.

What's striking overall is that French politicians have a rather difficult time with social media. In many of our European neighbors, such as Italy, but also in Poland, Hungary, and Romania, politics today takes place exclusively on social media, particularly on the Chinese network TikTok, which is very popular with European populists and far-right groups.

In France, aside from Emmanuel Macron, with over 5 million subscribers, or Jordan Bardella, with 2 million followers, and far behind, Raphaël Glucksmann, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, and Marine Le Pen, everyone else is struggling to break through. And it's not for lack of trying. So, see you at the end of the summer to see if François Bayrou has managed to enter this world of social networks, a true "Holy Grail" for French politicians.