The Spanish electoral campaigns of 20-D and 26-J on Twitter: a study about the use that Podemos and Ciudadanos and their political leaders, Pablo Iglesias and Albert Rivera made of this platform 1
1.- Contextualization 2
2.- Justification of the topic 1. The topic is relevant because the current government of Spain is formed as a result of the 26-j electoral campaign. 2. Therefore, it is a current topic that has emerged from a totally different political dynamics, studied in times of change, because never before four political parties could have ruled in Spain. 3. Never before had the elections had to be repeated in Spain for not being able to form a government. 4. It affects a large number of people, in particular, the Spanish electorate. 5. It s a subject that interests the academic community, and on which, some papers have already been done (Campos-Domínguez & Calvo, 2017; López-García & Ordaz, 2017; López-García, Cano & Argilés, 2016). 3
3.- Research Questions Main research question: 1.-What kind of messages did Podemos and Ciudadanos mainly publish through Twitter in the two electoral campaigns analyzed? Secondary research questions: 2.-Are there differences between the contents published by the political parties and those disseminated by the leaders? 3.-How is it planned an election campaign for digital social networks and how is it coordinated with the global election campaign? 4.-Why do political parties publish so actively on Twitter during election periods? 5.-What is the value of community managers and campaign managers on the importance of Twitter as an electoral tool? 4
4.- Theoretical approach The main issues that will be explained in the theoretical approach are: 1. Political Communication in social media, concretely, on Twitter (Bor, 2014; Vaccari, 2013). 2. Political personification and populism (Giletta & Alberto, 2014). 3. Agenda setting and thematization theory (Scheufele, 2000). The main points that are explained in the theoretical framework are: 1. Conceptualization of political communication (Sibaja, 2013). 2. The evolution of electoral campaigns (Norris, 2000). 3. Political marketing (Maarek, 2011). 5
5.- Why analyze Twitter? Quantitative reasons: 1. According to the Estudio Anual de Redes Sociales (IAB, 2017), Twitter is the second most popular social network in Spain and the fourth most used. 2. Despite not being the leading social network in terms of number of users, Twitter is the social network most used by politicians, and in particular, by Spanish politicians (Criado, 2013). Qualitative reasons: 1. The use that the political system makes of Twitter has become in the last decade a central branch of research in this field (López -García, 2016). 2. As Giansante (2015) points out, Twitter is the best social network to connect with influencers, that is, with those people with great influence both online and offline. 6
6.- Methodology 6.1.-Methods: In-Depth interviews Content analysis Thematic analysis Analysis of the political message Analysis of Twitter metrics Quantitative 7
6.- Methodology 6.2.- Objectives and methods Objectives 1.- Analyze the content of the four profiles published on Twitter during the election campaigns of 20-D and 26-J. Observe which topics they publish most frequently. 2.- Investigate the similarities and differences that exist between the contents published by the profiles of the political parties, and their leaders. 3.- Analyze which topics obtained more retweets and favorites, in the four profiles in the electoral campaigns of the 20-D and 26-J. 4.- See if in the official profiles of political leaders, the authorship of the tweets is indicated. Methods Quantitative variables, significant phases of the political message, thematic analysis and content analysis. Quantitative variables, significant phases of the political message, thematic analysis and content analysis. Thematic analysis. Quantitative variables 8
6.- Methodology Objectives 5.- Study how to design an electoral campaign for social networks and how it is coordinated with the general campaign. 6.- Examine what assessment those responsible do of: a) election campaigns and social media management of political parties; b) the possibilities of interaction that Twitter allows users. 7.- Know the previous training and the employment situation of those who were responsible for the digital campaigns of Podemos and Ciudadanos during the periods analyzed. Methods Semiestructured in-depth interview Semiestructured in-depth interview Semiestructured in-depth interview 9
6.- Methodology 6.3.- Time period analyzed: 20-D election campaign 26-J election campaign Of the day 4-12-2015 to 18-12-2015. Of the day 10-06-2016 to 24-06-2016. A total of 30 days are analyzed. 10
6.4.- Sample of analysis 6.- Methodology Profiles Tweets published 20-D Tweets published 26-J Podemos 3,145 tweets 2,422 tweets Pablo Iglesias 137 tweets 86 tweets Ciudadanos 1,519 tweets 1,426 tweets Albert Rivera 120 tweets 93 tweets Total 8,948 tweets to analyze. 11
7.- First findings 12
7.- First findings 13
7.- First findings Podemos Significant phases of the political message Main topics 20 7% 7% 3% 13% 70% Election campaign Emotion Spain Justice European Union 0 5 4 1 0 Informative Emotional Self propagating Against campaign Rationalization Contradiction 14
7.- First findings Significant phases of the political message Pablo Iglesias 15 6 4 0 0 0 Informative Emotional Self propagating Against campaign Rationalization Contradiction 15
7.- First findings Ciudadanos Significant phases of the political message Main topics 9 6 6% 12% 6% 11% 6% Election campaign Economy Spain Justice European Union Constitutional reform 2 59% 0 Informative Emotional Self propagating Against campaign 0 0 1 Rationalization Contradiction Not classifiable 16
7.- First findings Albert Rivera Significant phases of the political message Main topics 11 Election campaign 6 7 4% 3% 3% 10% 10% 4% 10% 4% 14% 31% 7% Economy Spain Justice European Union Justice Emotion Sports 3 Governability Foreign policy 0 1 Security Informative Emotional Self propagating Against campaign Rationalization Contradiction 17
8.- References of the presentation Bor, S. (2014) Using Social Network Sites to Improve Communication Between Political Campaigns and Citizens in the 2012 Election. American Behavioral Scientist, 58 (9). 1195-1213. Campos-Domínguez, E. y Calvo, D. (2017). La campaña electoral en Internet: planificación, repercusión y viralización en Twitter durante las elecciones españolas de 2015. Comunicación y Sociedad, 29, mayo-agosto, 93-116. Universidad de Guadalajara. Casero- Ripollés, A., Sintes- Olivella, M., Franch, P. (2017) The populist political communication style in action: Podemos s Issues and functions on Twitter during the 2016 Spanish General Election. American Behavioral Scientist, 1(16). pp. 1-16. Criado, J.I. (2013) Open government, social media y sector público. Las administraciones públicas en la era de las redes sociales digitales. In: Cotarelo, R. (2013) CIBERPOLÍTICA. Las nuevas formas de acción y comunicación política. Tirant Humanidades; Valencia. Giansante, G. (2015) La comunicación política online. Editorial UOC. Barcelona. Giletta, C. & Alberto, M. (2014) El populismo revisado: apuntes para desanudar su análisis. Revista de la Red Intercátedras de Historia de América Latina Contemporánea, 1.pp. 115-123. Interactive Advertaising Bureau (2017) Estudio Anual de Redes Sociales. Consulted in: https://es.slideshare.net/elogia/iab-estudio-anual-redes-sociales-2017. 18
8.- References of the presentation López García, G., Cano-Orón, L. y Argilés Martínez, L. (2016). Circulación de los mensajes y establecimiento de la agenda en Twitter: el caso de las elecciones autonómicas de 2015 en la Comunidad Valenciana. Trípodos, 39, 163-183. López García, G. y Valera Ordaz, L. (eds.) (2017). Pantallas electorales. El discurso de partidos, medios y ciudadanos en la campaña de 2015. Barcelona: Editorial UOC. Maarek, P. (2011) Campaign Communication & Political Marketing. Wiley- Blackwell, UK, Oxford. Norris, P. (2000) A Virtuous Circle. Political Communications in Postindustrial Societies. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. Scheufele, D.A. (2000) Agenda-Setting, Priming and Framing Revisited: Another Look at Cognitive Effects of Political Communication. Mass Communication and Society, 3(3). 297-316. Sibaja, G. (2013) Modelo para el estudio de la comunicación política. In Crespo, I. & del Rey Morató, J. (eds.) (2013) Comunicación política & campañas electorales en América Latina. Biblios POLITEIA. Buenos Aires. Vaccari, C. & Valeriani, A. (2013) Follow the leader! Direct and indirect flows of political communication during the 2013 Italian general election campaign. New Media & Society, 17(7). 1025-1042. 19
Thank you for your attention! Guillem Suau-Gomila guillem.suau@upf.edu 20
9.- Questions for debate 1. Is the analysis of content sufficient for the objectives that I proposed, or perhaps should reformulate this methodology? 2. Is the theoretical framework that I put forward coherent with my research or should I add some other point? 3. The interviews that I proposed are enough or do you consider that I should try to interview the political leaders (Pablo Iglesias and Albert Rivera) as well? 4. Do you consider it appropriate to add some other method of analysis such as the focus group to complement in-depth interviews? 21