Political Communication and Digital Propaganda in Andalusia: the strategy of political parties on the social network Twitter

Abstract

This research focuses on the analysis of Twitter as a propaganda tool used by all political parties represented in the Andalusian Parliament (Spain) during 2020. For this purpose, all posts published by the political formations have been studied using content analysis. The variables analyzed were the presence of the leader, party symbolism, type of propaganda, explicit mention of competitors, and the political purpose of the message. The results show that candidates had a limited presence on the official party account, with the opposition party’s candidate, Susana Díaz, standing out. Furthermore, in terms of propaganda type, there was greater use of negative propaganda toward opponents without direct mention, thereby avoiding a dialogue that may facilitate democratic processes. This finding is an example of the lack of bidirectionality on this social network. For its part, PSOE-A stands out in terms of the number of critiques to the Andalusian government, led by PP-A. On the other hand, the criticisms from right-wing parties were more focused on the Spanish government, led by PSOE, and its measures in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Ultimately, this research concludes that Andalusian political parties do not fully take advantage of all the functionalities offered by Twitter as a social network, which aligns with other relevant studies on this subject.