Elections as usual? longitudinal analysis of the changes caused by digital technologies in Brazilian electoral campaigns (1998-2016)

Abstract:

The purpose of this article is to make a longitudinal analysis of the main innovations that have occurred in Brazilian e-campaigns since 1998. As a method of analysis, we perform an analysis of the main contributions of the literature understanding the theme and present data about the use of social media and the internet by the candidates in the electoral campaigns in Brazil since 2006, when these tools have come to be gathered in a more systematic way. We will focus our examination on the elections for major positions (mayors of two-shift cities, governors, senators and presidents), with special attention to the last electoral campaigns of 2014 and 2016. Among the main empirical results, we mention the reduction of digital divide of the regions of the country with regard to access to digital technologies as a whole and the consolidation of Facebook’s hegemony as a campaign tool in municipal elections from 2014.

Keywords:
elections and internet in Brazil; social media; E-campaigns; internet and politics