What is in a ‘Like’? Political content on Facebook and Instagram in the 2019 Valencian regional election

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.28939/iam.debats.134-1.6

Keywords:

political communication, election campaign, Valencian Community, social media, Facebook, Instagram.

Abstract

Over the last few years, social networks such as Facebook and Instagram have become the preferred places for political
communication. On the one hand, political actors have incorporated them into their strategy as a channel through which
they can share their messages. On the other hand, users have a space where they can take part and show their interest
in political issues. This paper examines posts on Facebook and Instagram by the main Valencian political parties and
their respective leaders in the election campaign. We analysed the nature of the content and users’ ‘likes’ to reveal the
functions and themes of the most popular posts and the use made of visual resources and interaction tools. The results
show that the position of political actors influences the content with the most ‘likes’. While supporters of opposition
parties are most pleased by critical messages, followers of pro-government parties prefer messages that focus on
management success. At the same time, issues focusing on social policies and election campaign issues are those that
generate the most ‘likes’ among the public. Likewise, both visual aids (such as photographs and videos), and hashtags
and links help boost users’ approval

Author Biographies

  • Nadia Viounnikoff-Benet, Jaume I University

    Doctora de Ciencias de la Comunicación por la Universitat Jaume I de Castelló. Es licenciada en Publicidad y
    Relaciones Públicas y máster en Gestión de la Comunicación Politica y Electoral por la Universitat Autónoma de
    Barcelona. Su trabajo se centra en el estudio de la narrativa visual del liderazgo político en campaña electoral

  • Andreu Casero Ripollés, Jaume I University

    Catedrático de universidad de Periodismo y decano de la Facultad de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales de la Universitat Jaume I. Es licenciado por la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona y doctor por la Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Sus líneas de investigación se centran en la comunicación política y en las transformaciones digitales del periodismo. Es miembro del Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

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Published

2020-05-30

Issue

Vol. 134 No. 1 (2020)

Section

SPECIAL ISSUE

License

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How to Cite

Marcos García, S., Viounnikoff-Benet, N. and Casero Ripollés, A. (2020) “What is in a ‘Like’? Political content on Facebook and Instagram in the 2019 Valencian regional election”, Debats. Journal on culture, power and society, 134(1), pp. 91–116. doi:10.28939/iam.debats.134-1.6.