New leftist political actors on social networks: the use of Facebook by the leaderships of Podemos and Bloco de Esquerda

ABSTRACT:

This study aims to explore the digital communication strategies used by representatives from Spanish party-movement Podemos and the Portuguese party Bloco de Esquerda through the analysis of messages posted on their official Facebook pages. Led by young people inserted in network dynamics, Podemos and Bloco de Esquerda have used digital social networks to communicate political content without going through mainstream media outlets. The analysis of the 200 most engaged posts published in their official Facebook pages from July 1016 to April 2018 allowed for the identification of the subjects most approached and the resources most used. The results indicate that Podemos leaderships obtained better engagement than the Portuguese representatives. This study also allows for identifying the main discursive strategies and the forms through which these important political actors appropriated this digital social network in their political action.

Keywords:
Bloco de Esquerda; Political Communication; Facebook; Political Leadership; Podemos