Suchergebnisse

The electoral communication flows produced by leaders, parties, and the main candidates are the result of hybrid media logics and this is due to the environment in which they develop, and to the communicative strategies used. These strategies are generated by the intersection of traditional media logics (TV, radio, press) with digital media logics (Internet). This article investigates the social media communication habits of the main Italian leaders and political parties on Twitter and Facebook. To understand how the hybrid campaign developed in the Italian con-text, specific indicators were identified to operationalize social media habits related to: (a) communicative strategy, based on the productivity of the account (broadcast) and on its degree of interactivity (conversational), (b) skillfulness, regarding the capability to use different features of the social media platform; and (c) engage-ment, related to the capacity of the account to involve the audience. Results show that a more skillful use of the platforms, combined with a conversational communication strategy, produce more engaging messages regard-less the specific political actor (leader or party). Finally, the outcomes show a significant strengthening of hybrid media campaigning during the last Italian general elections on 4 March 2018.

The study focuses on the personalization strategies of political leaders on Twitter, in order to verify how the dimensions of personalization of politics typical of television setting are adapted in the new digital habitat. Following the selection of specific indicators the research analyses the tweets produced by the main Italian leaders over a year and a half. The multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) has identified three specific self personalization strategies: (i) Professional Leader, (ii) Intimate Persona, (iii) Intimate Leader, which have been related with the average of the likes received. The results confirmed that the adoption of personalized strategies is now part of the leaders' communicative preferences particularly through messages aimed at presenting their most intimate and personal side. At the same time, the research showed the users' preferences for these strategies aimed at strengthening the sense (or illusion) of greater intimacy with the politician. From this perspective the study also allows to understand the meaning that arenas like Twitter offer to the process of "shortening the distances" between citizens and political representatives. In this regard, we point out that the transition from TV to social media further accentuates personalization, giving politicians entire control over their self-disclosure activities

The electoral communication flows produced by leaders, parties, and the main candidates are the result of hybrid media logics and this is due to the environment in which they develop, and to the communicative strategies used. These strategies are generated by the intersection of traditional media logics (TV, radio, press) with digital media logics (Internet). This article investigates the social media communication habits of the main Italian leaders and political parties on Twitter and Facebook. To understand how the hybrid campaign developed in the Italian con- text, specific indicators were identified to operationalize social media habits related to: (a) communicative strategy, based on the productivity of the account (broadcast) and on its degree of interactivity (conversational), (b) skillfulness, regarding the capability to use different features of the social media platform; and (c) engage- ment, related to the capacity of the account to involve the audience. Results show that a more skillful use of the platforms, combined with a conversational communication strategy, produce more engaging messages regard- less the specific political actor (leader or party). Finally, the outcomes show a significant strengthening of hybrid media campaigning during the last Italian general elections on 4 March 2018.

The study focuses on the personalization strategies of political leaders on Twitter, in order to verify how the dimensions of personalization of politics typical of television setting are adapted in the new digital habitat. Following the selection of specific indicators the research analyses the tweets produced by the main Italian leaders over a year and a half. The multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) has identified three specific self-personalization strategies: (i) Professional Leader, (ii) Intimate Persona, (iii) Intimate Leader, which have been related with the average of the likes received. The results confirmed that the adoption of personalized strategies is now part of the leaders' communicative preferences particu-larly through messages aimed at presenting their most intimate and personal side. At the same time, the research showed the users' preferen-ces for these strategies aimed at strengthening the sense (or illusion) of greater intimacy with the politician. From this perspective the study also allows to understand the meaning that arenas like Twitter offer to the process of "shortening the distances" between citizens and political representatives. In this regard, we point out that the transition from TV to social media further accentuates personalization, giving politicians entire control over their self-disclosure activities.

Who and how takes part in a typical Twitter discussion about political elections? In what degree? In our study we try to shed some light on these questions by examining the case of Italian 2018 national election. Starting from the database that we collected during the latest general campaign, we analyse all the users who participated in the discussion unfolding in the two months preceding the vote. To do that, we exploit the concept of super-participants isolating the 1% of users who generate large part of the discussion. We study them identifying the two main participation flows in the Twittersphere generated by tweets and retweets, discovering that participation curves are very skewed. To address issues of centrality and inclusiveness in online communication, we look at who the super-participants are in the broader society, finding that many of them are citizens. To inquire if participation draws attention, we identify a set of super-echoed users discovering that, belonging to élite categories is still an advantage given that starting popularity is often more important to be shared than participation. In fact, citizens' super-participation is not mirrored by an equally consistent received attention. Notwithstanding, political supporters and satirical blogs emerge to be two very interesting categories.

In this volume an international array of scholars provides case studies from various countries of social inequalities and how they shape media narratives and experiences. The topics include how social inequalities relate to gender and empowerment, poverty and the media, and discriminatory access to media technologies.