“Hoffman“ is the guy’s name.
“Wanderer” goes for his explorative mindset. Being stateless and without ties. Never being limited to one single thing and being open minded to all kinds of subjects.
In recent years, this photography enthusiast has made himself known through his political activism TikTok page, dealing with social issues from an anti-fascist, libertarian and progressive angle, with almost 200,000 followers. Those who thinks that social medias only contain harmful and degrading content for neurons should read this interview carefully 😉
You can also consult his main channel on Instagram. Ultimately, whatever the meaning, as long as we can come together to discuss, exchange, and enrich ourselves by defending radical left ideals rarely (or never) relayed in traditional medias!
Hoffmann Wanderer has the pages! | By Polka B. / Translations : Nino Futur
Can you tell us more about your background and your social origins? Where did you grow up?
I am originally from the north of france. I lived there for 25 years. About my social class, I would say “lower middle class”. My family and I were far from rich, although I was lucky not to live in poverty.
How did you develop your critical thinking?
I wanted to be like my friends in the punk scene. When I was 13, I was fighting obviously against fascism, even if I didn’t really know what was it about. I took these speeches home with me.
I discussed it with my parents. Especially with my stepfather who was a literature teacher. He had good knowledge on quite a few subjects.
I fought the fascists in Lille, while developping my theoretical practice at the same time… And where most of my friends were “poser punks”, I never gave up. Besides, some of them became cops, or went to business schools ! Since then, I have always continued to read activist works, until today.
How did you ended up creating your own TikTok channel, dealing with activist and political content?
I was especially active in the“streets”in Lille. Helping a few associations, I was also active on the usual social networks like Twitter / Facebook. It should be remembered that I lived in the countryside. Going to Lille was no small thing! One day, I had a new job and arrived in Amiens in the middle of Covid!
Impossible for me to meet people... I was fed up with Twitter activism. Very aggressive, very hollow, and without real debate. So I looked into TikTok out for curiosity.
I had a fairly negative image of it. I saw it as “childish thing,” designed for dancing to music and choreos.
But while browsing it, I discovered some really interesting content. In particular scientific popularization in fairly short formats. I had the idea of doing the same for political ideas by popularizing activist speeches. That started it. As a sort of hobby during confinement. And as the feedback was very good, I continued. Even if the channel took a while to “really” launch. (Laughs)
How many videos did you make for it to take?
I created a first account which got striked all the time. As I risk a permanent ban, I started from scratch. Today in a year and a half, I have more than 188,000 subscribers. To be honest, there was a big boom during the second lockdown!
How do you choose your subjects?
There is definitely a reaction to current events. I do a lot of reaction videos. I like to demonstrate that points of view that I consider objectionable are wrong, or that they result from a moral panic. Of course, we must also reestablish truths by mobilizing the right arguments.
It’s true that you respond to a lot of far-right content creators. We feel that they really annoy you, and that the fact of dismantling their argument constitutes a source of motivation!
It’s true. They say so much stupid stuff that I want to react. For me, no one ever contradicts them. Or a very few! And it must be said, it is an easy support for creating content. I bounce off something. And by dismantling statements that are not true, you provide information that makes sense. We try to make it interesting for the people to watch… And sometimes, it’s even quite funny!
Sometimes people who follow me directly ask me to expand on topics. When it interests me and it corresponds to my editorial line, I do it!
How would you define your editorial line?
Anti-fascism in general, which for me encompasses the fight against all forms of discriminations. Not just fascism as such. The fight against LGBTQIphobia, racism, ableism, classism...
I also address concepts of openness to anarchist themes at the political and social level.
You also create cultural content with reviews of films, series…
I am truly passionate! I didn’t necessarily want to talk about it at first. And one day, someone analyzed the film Fight Club by completely deviating it from its purpose.
Basically, the person was criticizing bringing political content into a film. Which to me sounds totally stupid! Everything is political. You cannot isolate an artistic production from a certain context.
In short, my reaction video was quite popular, and I saw that there was a wait above it. Even though it’s occasional on my account, I’ve continued to do it.
And sometimes I don’t even talk about politics. I’m just giving my opinion and it feels good! Like a break… This gives the channel a slightly lighter tone.
But some films carry very strong political content. The link is obvious. I think for example of Barbie, The Animal Kingdom, or Consent.
Why do you think social media is so saturated with reactionary and conservative content? And why are there so few channels with a progressive and inclusive sensibility?
I don’t think this is a “quantity of content” issue. Because we also find a lot of people on the left. The real problem is the popularity of far-right people on these platforms. The trivialization of these speeches goes back twenty years before.
Young people have been particularly affected, particularly the 15-18 forum page group. The jeuxvideo.com forum was a nest for these ideas! At first it was just troll things. And little by little, the far right played with it. The fact of making fun of things with irony, of being against authority… They recruited a lot of people.
And when you decide on something at 15, it’s very hard to question yourself about it. Especially when an ideology convinces you that you are the best, the most beautiful, the strongest, and that if others are inferior, it is because they are worthless. When you’re a teenager, it’s nice. Libertarian ideologies are more “beautiful” on paper, but you have to learn to question yourself.
Recognize that you are privileged, for example. It’s stupid to say, but you have to think a lot more to be leftist. In any case, it requires more self-reflection…
Is it because right wing content seems more “entertaining” for people?
It’ s all“clickbait”! Flash, fast… We are not trying to analyze. Except half the time it’s totally wrong. Or, it’s “half true”: we use a number to assert something by skipping the context. I even saw accounts seriously reporting information from Gorafi ( a french humouristic and satiric newspaper online :ED)! That’s the level!
Anyway, it comes back to what I was telling earlier. If the world is bad, it’s always on other people’s fault. If you’re trying to explain the problems generated by capitalism, just have to say that it’s a « woke thing » ! And that’s it, it’s settled. Otherwise, it’s Islam, or foreigners …
Can you tell us about the haters? What are the interactions with your different audiences depending on the media?
I stopped reading comments on Instagram! It’s globaly trash. Really. Some people openly brag about being Nazis! I have more comments on TikTok, and it’s more nuanced. As long as it stays on the networks, it’s fine.
Last year I had a problem. Members of Amiens’s Action Française (A french far right activist group : ED) waited for me at my work. There were no particular consequences but still! I was in work clothes, and I saw four hooded people in a car. They had parked in front of mine to get me stuck. I didn’t try to play. I didn’t know if they were armed, so I locked myself inside and waited. They wanted to have fun with each other I think. Like “Let’s scare a woke”.
You also receive a lot of support! Your followers give you strength…
Yes, it feels so good. People tell me that I do a good job, and that helps me on a personal level. Beyond that, it’s always good to feel that my ideas are shared by many people. This gives hope. I also received a lot of criticism from rather kind people.
This good cliché of leftists who spend the most of their time criticizing each other whereas right wing. It’s stupid, but it’s true! (Laughs). Two anarchists who didn’t read the same book can tear each other apart! In the end, what matters to me is having constructive feedback. The rest is just details.