Performing populist leadership online: Discursive and multimodal construction of a shared social identity

Populist leaders are known for engaging supporters through compelling rhetoric, sparking debate about what persuasive strategies they use to mobilize voters. While research shows that leaders creatively frame their communication, the role of social media-especially its multimodal affordances-remains poorly understood. This study applies multimodal critical discursive psychology (MCDP) to examine the modalities used in TikTok videos of Finnish right-wing populist politician Sebastian Tynkkynen. Using the integrative social identity model of populist leadership (ISIMPL), we identified eight discursive and multimodal strategies, through which Tynkkynen performs populistic identity leadership and constructs a shared identity: 'performing populist prototypicality' by emphasizing authenticity and ordinariness, 'performing as the voice of the people' through heroism and self-sacrifice, 'mobilizing a populist "us"' through in-group celebration and shared victimhood, and 'othering the elite as "them"' through blame and ridicule. These are accomplished through various discursive and multimodal resources, with co-contextualization of elements playing a crucial role in creating an overall message. This study shows how multimodal communication enables populist politicians to innovatively perform leadership and construct shared identities online, enhancing understanding of the discursive and multimodal construction of populist identity leadership.