German Chancellor Friedrich Merz acknowledged at the 104th Katholikentag that his message of hope is not reaching young people. Faced with their direct questions, he admitted shortcomings in his communication and was self-critical of the governing coalition, where excessive conflict undermines results. A signal problem in times of political noise.
Political communication as a patchwork system 📡
Merz's admission is reminiscent of a developer releasing updates without documentation. Instead of a stable message, the coalition offers debate patches that do not fix the underlying bugs. If politics were software, its beta version would accumulate compatibility errors between promises and execution. To reach young people, the chancellor needs a simpler interface and fewer layers of bureaucracy.
Merz discovers that young people don't use telegrams 🤳
Merz, with a look of having seen a meme without understanding it, promises to improve his communication. Perhaps his next speech will include emojis or a TikTok tutorial. Meanwhile, the coalition remains that WhatsApp group where everyone writes and no one reads. At least the chancellor now knows the problem is not the message, but the channel: young people have stopped using carrier pigeons.