The Fandomization of Citizenship: A Multimodal Analysis of Vico Sotto on TikTok

This article examines how political engagement in the Philippines is increasingly articulated through affective, participatory, and fan-like practices by analyzing supporter-generated TikTok videos of Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto. Situating the case within conditions of hybrid politics, where reformist governance intersects with platform-mediated visibility and celebrity aesthetics, the study advances the concept of “fandomization of citizenship” to describe how civic orientation is performed through admiration, narrativity, and affective alignment with political leadership. Using multimodal critical discourse analysis, the article shows how supporters foreground ordinariness, accessibility, and relational intimacy through visual, textual, and sonic cues, often backgrounding policy achievements in favor of affective resonance. Rather than treating fandom as trivial or apolitical, the study demonstrates how fan-like practices operate as meaningful, civically oriented forms of political evaluation and belonging. The findings contribute to Global South scholarship on digital politics by showing how moral politics, narrative authority, and relational trust converge within contemporary platform cultures.