Instagramming the Elysée?

To remain relevant in an increasingly digital world, politicians had to embrace the emergence of social media and learn how to strategically use these platforms to capture the audience's attention and approbation, hoping to secure its support at the ballot box. This research investigates the extent to which Emmanuel Macron’s visual self-presentation on Instagram is personalised. Personalisation strategies are examined by comparing Macron’s personal account (@emmanuelmacron) to his official photographer’s account (@soazigdelamoissonnière) and electoral periods to routine times. To better capture the nuances in the French president’s visual presentation, this research differentiates between “personalisation”, “individualisation”, and “privatisation”, acknowledging the multi-layered character of the phenomenon. Through a quantitative visual content analysis, Instagram posts from Macron’s and De La Moissonnière’s accounts, issued between 2016 and today, are examined. In total, 890 pictures were coded to identify general, personalised, individualised, and privatised visual features, aiming to uncover patterns in how the French president presents himself on the platform. The findings reveal that Macron’s visual self-presentation is more personalised on De La Moissonnière’s account and during electoral periods. However, in terms of individualisation and privatisation, no significant differences were found, neither between the two accounts, nor the two periods. Overall, Macron’s visual self-presentation on Instagram can be deemed highly personalised. The Instagram posts convey primarily a formal image, depicting the president’s official and professional duties and, to a much more limited extent though, an informal image, revealing comparatively few private aspects of his life. These findings align with what previous research found, namely that there seems to be an established genre of politicians’ presentation on Instagram, consisting of presenting essentially the image of a professional leader in its work environment, occasionally complemented by more private content, with the leader in a role other than the one of politician. This thesis confirms the necessity of differentiating between personalisation dimensions, both theoretically and in practice. It emphasises the essential role of visuals for politicians’ self-presentation strategies on social media and validates the suitability of Instagram as a platform for online image management. Finally, it reiterates the importance of considering both electoral and non-electoral periods when examining politicians’ communication and invites us to devote closer attention to the role of personal photographers in politicians’ visual storytelling and image management.