Romanians turned off their televisions, rejecting classic election messages, and looked for their president on social media. Where they discovered Călin Georgescu, a politician who had, over time, a rather discreet presence in the public space. But with a well-thought-out and well-implemented message, the independent seduced, in just a few months, over two million Romanians. And we may be witnessing a first: to witness the rise to the highest position in the state of an individual who processed and polished his message in the darkness of the most harmful and toxic social network: TikTok, say experts consulted by “The truth”.
Călin Georgescu enters the second round alongside Elena Lasconi. PHOTO Mediafax/Facebook
Social networks have become a real political weapon, a “fearsome, diabolical weapon and which, perfectly handled by a smart man, had a major impact on people's decision to vote for Călin Georgescu”, psychologist Liviu Chesnoiu stated for “Adevărul”. “If you want to be an independent person, not to be influenced by anything, you have to stay away from social media”, he continued. “I have an infantry phone at home, only phone and SMS, although it's a smartphone. I have canceled all applications,” the specialist also told us.
Psychologist: “Romanians, manipulated online by diabolical subliminal messages”
Psychologist Radu Leca is of the opinion that the profile of the TikTok user is confused with the profile of the voter who gave Călin Georgescu the vote of confidence. “It is about young people between 18 and 23 years old, but also about adults aged 55 and over”. The psychologist says that the profile of those who voted for Călin Georgescu contains five essential elements, five magic buttons that the independent registered in the race for Cotroceni pressed like a true master. “The notion of independence, the notion of sovereignty, the notion of courage and adventurous spirit, the embrace of the desire for total change and the deeply religious character. Moreover, these people are, on the one hand, deeply alienated from everything that the European Union means and, on the other hand, eager not to participate in the war in Ukraine.” continues the specialist. “And Georgescu is, at the moment, the only politician who does not want Romania to support Ukraine anymore”, says Radu Leca.
For his part, the expert Liviu Chesnoiu told us that in this first round of the presidential elections we had to deal with two large categories of voters. “The first category has been fantastically influenced for a long time, especially from a subliminal point of view. People have been so systematically bombarded with a certain type of message that at some point they come to believe that that idea is, in fact, their idea.” the expert specified.
Then, we are talking about a second category of voters, those who were already on the same wavelength as the message launched by Georgescu. “All their grievances, all their frustrations and problems found an echo in this man. He did not come to them with a new, head-to-tail philosophy. He came with crumbs. The foundation on which he built his message was already built in their mind, soul and consciousness. He just came and put something here and there.” considers the psychologist Liviu Chesnoiu.
As for the level of education of these people, we are talking about “individuals who are preparing to take the Baccalaureate, an exam they did not take in previous years, we are then talking about first and second year college graduates, people who work part time, four to six hours a day, and people who believe that a radical change will bring Romania a plus from a financial point of view. We radicalized as a people”, Radu Leca also specified.
Psychologist Liviu Chesnoiu told us that he had discussions with people who put the stamp on the independent candidate's ballot. “But when I asked them who this gentleman was, they could not tell me. And these people will also vote for him. Or perhaps his method will become even more sophisticated and influence even more people. This TikTok has nothing to look for in the election campaign. We should jam everything and think with our minds.”
Liviu Chesnoiu believes that in Romania there are a lot of frustrated, dissatisfied, angry people. “And these people found in this individual a valve. But people are not to blame. In their anger I trust a man who knows how to take them.”
Political scientist: “He was elected by young people”
Remus Ioan Stefureac, political scientist and director of INSCOP Research, made public the profile of the voters of the independent candidate Călin Georgescu, extracted from the survey carried out by INSCOP Research on the day of the presidential elections. According to the document, on the day of the vote, 1.31% of young people between the ages of 18 and 24 voted for Călin Georgescu, in contrast to only 8% of voters over the age of 65 who chose to give him a vote of confidence . “Young voters, up to 44 years old, were more motivated to vote with Mr. Georgescu, than voters over 45 years old”stated Ioan Stefureac. “As for men and women, they do not differentiate themselves in terms of the intention to vote for Mr. Georgescu. It may be a possible indicator of the ignorance of some of his lordship's views on the role of women in society. 20% of people with primary education and no education and 23% of people with secondary education voted with Mr. Georgescu, compared to 13% of people with higher education who opted for his rule”, the specialist also stated on his Facebook page.
Like a master puppeteer, Călin Georgescu played with people's minds, with their feelings and emotions, psychologist Chesnoiu also believes. And the social networks, not being very well regulated, gave him very great and unexpected power of movement. Leaving aside the fact that the message spreads dizzyingly and only through a single click. TikTok was, therefore, the ideal playground, the “village without dogs” where candidate Călin Georgescu made the law.
What a voter based in the UK says
A Romanian woman from Great Britain, who voted for Călin Georgescu, explained to Adevărul that she chose him because it is a “fresh” option for Romanians: “We are always waiting for the moment to have someone to vote with. They are spiritually awakened people. He is a nationalist. He is intelligent. It is something new and fresh for Romania. And he wants to support small entrepreneurs”.
Călin Georgescu was also presented by his electorate as a candidate with integrity, a good communicator, with charisma. “He is a person who has evolved over time, he comes from the countryside and has become a cultured and educated man. He didn't make 100 promises, but 2-3 and plausible ones. He did not invest money in the campaign. Anyone you ask in the Diaspora mentions that they vote for him”argued the Romanian woman settled in Great Britain.
“For me there is no PSD, PNL, USR option. We know very well what PSD, PNL and USR have done so far: Nothing. That's why I left the country, soon Romania will disappear from the map because of how many Romanians left”, the woman explained.
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