The left is struggling to gain traction online despite offering solutions to key issues such as inequality and the cost of living crisis, while right-wing voices have flourished. This is according to Robert Topinka, a reader in digital media and rhetoric at Birkbeck, University of London, who argues that the problem lies in the changing nature of social media platforms.
Platforms originally designed to connect users have shifted towards emotion-driven content designed to provoke engagement. Algorithms now prioritise shortform video and suggested posts, creating an environment where reactionary narratives blaming scapegoats for structural problems resonate more easily than left-wing messaging.
In the early days of social media, progressives leveraged networks to organise movements such as the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street. Now, however, platforms like X (formerly Twitter) have reinstated far-right accounts, and the model of infinite scrolling encourages doomscrolling through sensationalist content.
While the right has built a parallel media universe offering camaraderie, alternative lifestyles and conspiracy theories, the left remains fragmented. It often focuses on critiquing legacy media outlets rather than building its own ecosystem, with many left-wing creators spending time attacking liberal institutions like the New York Times.
There are signs of progress, however. Outlets such as Novara Media and Jacobin have produced influential figures and helped shape democratic socialist campaigns. Yet these efforts remain scattered, and the left has yet to match the right’s cohesive online presence.
