By: Odeh Favour
In a bid to turn the tide in his re-election campaign, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has finally embraced social media, dropping his long-standing aversion to mobile phones.
The 80-year-old leader, who does not own a cellphone and has long mocked the “finger-tapping generation,” recorded and shared his first selfie video on Wednesday as part of a major campaign shake-up.
The dramatic strategy pivot comes after Lula was caught off guard by a second-place finish behind right-wing senator Flavio Bolsonaro on Sunday, putting him on the back foot ahead of the crucial October 25 runoff election.
Addressing young influencers during a meeting, Lula admitted that his decision to record the video was largely driven by pressure from those around him, including his wife.
“People are always bugging me. Janja gets up every day saying, ‘Come on, take a selfie.’ I don’t like it. But today, I decided to do it,” he said.
In the selfie video posted across his official Instagram and TikTok pages, the president delivered a direct charge to his supporters.
“Come on, folks, let’s hit the streets; let’s talk to people,” Lula urged in the broadcast.
Lula’s campaign is now focusing heavily on social media ahead of the runoff, attempting to make inroads into a digital domain that has traditionally been dominated by the right in Brazil.
His political rival, Flavio Bolsonaro, has been using spontaneous selfie videos to address his online followers directly for several months.
To counter this advantage, Lula convened a meeting on Wednesday with prominent leftist influencers who won legislative seats on Sunday to advise his campaign strategy.
Among those brought in to rework his digital approach was 21-year-old Ana Elisa Santos Silva, who was elected as the country’s youngest federal deputy.
“Today, our most important campaign leaflet is the mobile phone,” the young influencer told reporters.
She explained that she had worked late into the night alongside the president’s communications team to transition him onto social media “in a way that makes him feel comfortable”.
Emphasizing the urgency of the digital campaign, Ana Elisa, who boasts nearly three million social media followers, highlighted the grip of their political opponents online.
“The far right dominates the narrative on social media,” she observed.
Despite adopting the new media tactics, adapting to the digital age remains a tricky personal challenge for the veteran leader.
“I don’t use a cellphone because I need my hands to do other things,” Lula insisted on Wednesday. “And I like to say only what is essential.”
