Jan Rau won first prize in the 2026 Young Scholar Award at this year’s annual conference of the German Communication Association (DGPuK).
He received the award for his German-language article on “Algorithmisierte Sichtbarkeit von Wahlkampfkommunikation auf TikTok: Personalisierung, Konflikte und Politainment im Bundestagswahlkampf 2025” [Algorithmic Visibility of Election Campaign Communication on TikTok: Personalization, Conflicts, and Politainment in the 2025 Federal Election Campaign]. In the paper, Jan Rau examines the communicative characteristics that distinguish high-reach content on TikTok during the 2025 federal election campaign. He focuses on the significance of personalization, conflict-driven narratives, and elements of politainment for the algorithmically mediated visibility of political communication.
The DGPuK recognizes outstanding work by researchers in the early stages of their careers with the Young Scholar Award. Congratulations on this achievement!