Abstract

This article aims to set a theoretical framework for a debate about the advantages and disadvantages of the actual way in which celebrities are portrayed in Spanish television. This work deals with how fame has been present in several societies over time. The phenomenon of celebrity is placed in a context that includes the USA and Britain. The piece introduces the idea, argued by a relevant number of Anglo-Saxon authors, that fame and democracy have walked and developed together in a number of countries.q

Abstract

The communication strategy developed on Twitter by the communication team La Cueva, of the political party Izquierda Unida, during the general elections of 2015 and 2016, achieved notoriety because of the language used and the followers and sympathizer’s participation. This article analyzes the tweets generated by the accounts of the party and the candidate Alberto Garzón during the two electoral campaigns, by combining frequency analysis, as a quantitative technique, and digital ethnography, as a qualitative technique. A confluence of factors, such as the visualization of the candidate’s private life and the admiration professed by the “garzoners” (Garzón’s supporters), both promoted by La Cueva, allows us to consider Alberto Garzón as an example of politician celebrity.