TikTok and the Affective Politics of Digital Populism: Nationalist Youth Mobilization in the 2024-2025 Romanian Elections

This article explores TikTok's role in shaping nationalist populism and affective polarization among Romanian youth during the 2024-2025 presidential elections. Drawing on theories of digital nationalism, populist communication, youth political engagement, and affective polarization, the study develops an integrative framework for analyzing how TikTok's algorithmic design promotes emotionally charged, influencer-driven political content. It argues that TikTok functions as an incubator of affective nationalism by amplifying far-right narratives and mobilizing youth through emotionally resonant media. The article calls for a hybrid methodology combining discourse analysis of platform content and survey data to assess how nationalist narratives circulate and gain traction among young voters.