Abstract

The main aspects of Twitter use by the Spanish main political parties (PP, PSOE, Ciudadanos and Podemos) during the electoral campaign, prior to the June 2016 elections, are determined. After doing a content analysis on all the tweets generated by the candidates (n = 2,207), we conclude that the majority of patterns detected in the use of Twitter by other countries’ politicians do not apply to the Spanish case: in Spain the opposition’s candidates are as much active as the president of the Government, and the candidates of the emerging formations are as much prolific as those from traditional parties, among other conclusions. Regarding previous elections, the results also show a change of strategy in the use of social networks by the new parties.

Abstract

The series of issues for debate which our public representatives consider important is normally referred to as the “political agenda”. This agenda, when compared to the priorities of the media (“media agenda”) and those of the general public (“public” and “private” agendas), is much more difficult to measure. This article uses a methodology to ascertain the thematic break-down of the political agenda based on the analysis of three different scenarios of political communication during the Spanish general elections held in April 2019: the electoral programs of the parties, the use of Twitter and electoral debates. This contribution uses the methodology of content analysis to study the agenda of the main issues in the electoral programs and televised debates in addition to how politicians used the social network Twitter to deal with the agenda issues.

Abstract

This paper analyzes the information coverage by the Spanish newspapers El país, El mundo, ABC, and La vanguardia in Twitter on the electoral campaign prior to the 10 November 2019 general elections. A content analysis of all tweets published by these media regarding the elections (n = 1,462) between Friday 1 and Saturday 9 November reveals that, although there are differences in the production patterns and features of the messages, the subject received notable attention in all the newspapers. The coverage gravitated around two main themes: the 4N electoral debate, and campaign events. The results reveal that, although most of the tweets had a neutral tone, messages with clear positioning corresponding to the editorial line of the newspaper were also published, albeit to a lesser extent. During the electoral period, the media agenda revolved around this issue, accounting for around one-fifth of all pieces published on Twitter. Newspapers do not take advantage of the dialogic nature or possibilities offered by this social network to create a community among their readers, limiting themselves to the dissemination of content from their digital edition.