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TikTok is not just for trends and lip-syncs \u2013 it\u2019s also where the European Union pops up in unexpected ways. I analysed 15 of the most relevant videos under the hashtag <\/span><\/i>#EuropeanUnion<\/i> to see what stories, tones, and topics dominate. The findings? A mix of political snapshots, institutional explainers, and personal takes on what it means to be part of the Union \u2013 with positivity far outweighing criticism.<\/i><\/p>\n Why look at TikTok\u2019s #EuropeanUnion?<\/b><\/p>\n TikTok has millions of hashtags competing for attention, but <\/span>#EuropeanUnion stands out as a mix of official messages, national politics, and everyday snapshots of life in the EU. It\u2019s a space where policy announcements sit next to personal stories, and where institutional facts get remixed into trending formats. Looking at what rises to the top of this hashtag can tell us not only what people post, but also how the EU is framed in one of the most dynamic corners of social media.<\/span><\/p>\n Inside the #EuropeanUnion feed<\/b><\/p>\n On July 30, the hashtag #EuropeanUnion contained around 926 publicly available videos. From these, I analysed 15 videos selected using TikTok\u2019s \u201cMost relevant\u201d filter, which highlights content the platform ranks highest based on a combination of factors such as engagement, watch time and match with the searched hashtag.<\/span><\/p>\n This hashtag was chosen because it is specific enough to capture content explicitly related to the European Union while still broad enough to reflect a variety of political, informational and personal posts. The sample size of 15 videos was set to allow for a close, qualitative review of each post while still providing a diverse snapshot of the content appearing under this hashtag.<\/span><\/p>\n For each video, I recorded the date of publication, the number of likes and comments, a short description of the content, the overall tone (positive, negative or neutral) and the main theme. All creators were anonymised and labelled from Video 1 to Video 15 to ensure equal treatment.<\/span><\/p>\n The story in 15 videos<\/b><\/p>\n From the 15 most relevant TikToks under <\/span>#EuropeanUnion, three dominant themes emerged. The largest share (7 videos) focused on country-specific perspectives \u2014 covering topics from Hungary\u2019s economic struggles to Italy\u2019s post-euro growth. Informational content was the second most common category (5 videos), explaining how EU institutions work, listing Member States, or breaking down policy areas. The smallest group (3 videos) highlighted EU values and privileges, portraying the Union as a source of rights, opportunities, and personal benefits.<\/p>\n Chart 1.<\/b> Distribution of TikTok content themes under <\/span>#EuropeanUnion <\/span><\/i>(own analysis)<\/span>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n When looking at sentiment, most of the analysed videos were neutral in tone (8 out of 15), often sticking to facts or presenting information without explicit evaluation. Positive videos (6 out of 15) tended to celebrate EU membership, economic opportunities, or political leadership. Only one video carried a clearly negative tone, linking EU identity with dissatisfaction about national belonging. This suggests that, at least under the \u201cMost Relevant\u201d filter, the hashtag #EuropeanUnion leans toward either informational or pro-EU framing.<\/span><\/p>\n Chart 2.<\/b> Sentiment in 15 most relevant TikToks under #EuropeanUnion (own analysis).<\/span><\/p>\n Engagement patterns show that emotionally charged or visually dynamic videos can reach large audiences regardless of tone. The most-viewed video in the sample (1M likes) was actually negative in sentiment, focusing on French identity within the EU. Among the top-performing positive videos there were those showcasing EU privileges or the economic benefits of adopting the euro. Meanwhile, some purely informational videos still achieved high reach \u2014 for example, a Brexit explainer with over 300K likes \u2014 suggesting that concise, clear educational content has viral potential on TikTok when paired with trending audio or visuals.<\/span><\/p>\n What this tells us \u2014 and how to move forward<\/b><\/p>\n The TikTok hashtag #EuropeanUnion, as seen through its most relevant videos, is shaped mainly by neutral, fact-based narratives, with a notable share of positive portrayals and very limited negative sentiment. This suggests an opportunity to expand both the diversity of voices and the range of topics presented under the tag. To strengthen engagement and reach, EU-focused creators and institutions could:<\/span><\/p>\n (1) <\/strong>bring in perspectives from underrepresented countries and communities,<\/span><\/p>\n (2) <\/strong>make informational content more dynamic by using trending formats and relatable storytelling,<\/span><\/p>\n (3) <\/strong>address controversial or critical topics in constructive, fact-based ways that invite dialogue rather than polarisation.<\/span><\/p>\n By blending accurate information with creative presentation, the hashtag could become a richer and more inclusive space for conversations about Europe\u2019s future.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" TikTok is not just for trends and lip-syncs \u2013 it\u2019s also where the European Union pops up in unexpected ways. I analysed 15 of the most relevant videos under the hashtag #EuropeanUnion to see what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":519,"featured_media":43698,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[690,695],"tags":[871,12075,4156,2461],"post_formats":[636],"coauthors":[8508],"class_list":["post-51073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-actualiteit","category-jeugd","tag-eu-nl","tag-european-unio-nl","tag-social-media-nl","tag-tiktok-nl","post_formats-artikelen"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pulse-z.eu\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pulse-z.eu\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pulse-z.eu\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pulse-z.eu\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/519"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pulse-z.eu\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51073"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.pulse-z.eu\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51073\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51080,"href":"https:\/\/www.pulse-z.eu\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51073\/revisions\/51080"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pulse-z.eu\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pulse-z.eu\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pulse-z.eu\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pulse-z.eu\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51073"},{"taxonomy":"post_formats","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pulse-z.eu\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_formats?post=51073"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pulse-z.eu\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=51073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.pulse-z.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0.png\")
<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.pulse-z.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0-2.png\")
<\/p>\nHow the EU is portrayed: positive, neutral, negative<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.pulse-z.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0-3.png\")
<\/p>\nEngagement highlights<\/b><\/h3>\n