Online campaigning

Online media and communication are an essential part of most political campaigns of today;
they enable citizen to take part in political activism in many new forms, such as online petitioning. This study examines the mobilizing power of three characteristics, i.e., tone, picture, and interactive cues, of online petitions. The research uses a 2 (negative vs. positive tone) x 2 (with vs. without image) x 2 (with vs. without interactive cues) in between subject design. The findings reveal that the negative tone of online petitions positively affect Internet users more than positive ones in terms of the intent to sign the online petition and behavioral intentions (e.g., seeking for more information, sending the petitions and talking about the petitions to their friends, family and colleagues, etc.). The study also shows that interactive cues of online petitions specifically increased a perceived credibility of the online petitions, while tones and images do not. We also found that the combination of all three characteristics produce the most mobilizing power among respondents in seeking for more information about the presented issue in the online petitions. The findings suggest that online petitioners should take the characteristics of an online petition into consideration in order to generate more mobilized and effective online petitions in the future.

Key words: mobilization effects, online petition, online campaign, online activism, tones, images, interactive-cues

Wie sieht die Zukunft der politischen Kommunikation in Deutschland aus? Wird es den gläsernen Abgeordneten geben, gewinnt die Europäische Union mehr Macht, können sich die traditionellen Leitmedien behaupten? Welche Chancen haben neue Parteien? Wird der Schlüssel zu politischen Karrieren das Internet? Wer schreibt und beeinflusst unsere Gesetze im Jahr 2030? Die Delphi-Studie geht diesen und weiteren Fragen mit einem innovativen Forschungsdesign nach. Über 100 Politiker unter 45 Jahren aus Parlamenten, Ministerien und Parteizentralen haben Schlüsselthesen zur Zukunft der politischen Kommunikation und Gesetzgebung bewertet. Die Ergebnisse der Befragung haben die Politiker erneut als Experten bewertet und kommentiert. Dieser Band stellt die Ergebnisse systematisch dar und diskutiert die Szenarien einer Politikergeneration, die in den nächsten Jahrzehnten die politische Verantwortung übernimmt.

Nesta dissertação, demonstramos que o antipetismo surge em meio a diversos processos sociopolíticos que se entrelaçam e que ganham formato e substância peculiares de acordo com os acontecimentos políticos contemporâneos. A abordagem proposta evidencia as relações entre aspectos institucionais do sistema político, características atitudinais e recursos comunicativos nas mídias sociais. Argumentamos que o antipetismo não se limita à negação do PT ou o voto útil no adversário. A oposição hostil ao partido é o fator que catalisa uma diversa gama de discursos políticos de modo heterogêneo e não linear. Assim, defendemos a hipótese de que o antipetismo nas mídias sociais em 2014 tem uma característica fundamental que chamamos de assimetria histórica, que produz alguns pontos cegos quanto à análise da imagem do partido e da própria política brasileira. Para lançar luz sobre o pano de fundo que compõe a Rede Antipetista, oferecemos uma chave de leitura que enfatiza três pontos referenciais antagônicos: o antipartidarismo, o antiesquerdismo e o antiestablishment. O gatilho da tríade do antipetismo é o clima de ansiedade da população, provocado pela queda na avaliação retrospectiva do governo federal, situando um cenário de crise econômica e de escândalos de corrupção. As chaves de leitura elaboradas são essenciais para a compreensão de fenômenos recentes e de grande complexidade da comunicação política, além de parte da conjuntura da política nacional, como o papel da oposição e os protestos pelo impeachment da presidente, Dilma Rousseff. Discutiremos os principais resultados e elaboraremos problematizações sobre os desafios suscitados para pesquisas posteriores.

Communication via the Internet and online social networking sites (SNS) has come to form an inherent part of most political campaigns today. Yet the potential of online activism to bring about political change is debated. While its advocates insist on its positive contribution to participatory democracy, critics dismiss it as a “slacktivist” activity that carries little societal benefit. Our analysis of the Brazilian anti-corruption campaign Ficha Limpa, which was primarily promoted through social media channels, picks up on this debate. After discussing the campaign’s impact on the macro- and meso-level of the Brazilian political system, we proceed to analyze its impact
on the micro level of individual participation using original survey data concerning citizens’ online and offline behaviour in the context of this campaign. We find that the low-effort online activities typically offered by entertainment orientated SNS contribute little to increase political participation. In turn, targeted campaigning by e-advocacy groups has the potential to increase the political engagement of individuals with low levels of political interest and can help to produce the switch from online to offline participation among individuals with high levels of political interest.

This article examines the ways how Estonian candidates were implementing Web 2.0 applications during the European Parliament elections in June 2009. The study considers effectiveness of the candidates ’ websites presentation. Several web-specific features, the ability to use multimedia and interactivity are taken into consideration. The paper also looks at how the phenomenon of personalisation of politicians ’ reflects in the Estonian web-campaign environment. Conclusions are drawn as to whether political web pages offer opportunities for implementing a deliberative policy, as Web 2.0 applications give opportunities to involve people to the debate and increase participation. The analyses show that in Estonia political web sites do not offer citizens many possibilities for participation. Even if candidates have blogs and are present on social networking platforms such as Facebook or Twitter, they tend to use these applications only for marketing purposes and not for implementing deli...

Text in Portuguese. Abstract in English. TITLE: Online Campaigns, Political Participation and the Public Sphere: The Case of the Open Government Plan in the 2010 Brazilian Elections..ABSTRACT: This paper aims at examining the online political discussions which took place on the website Proposta Serra , an open government plan initiative launched by the Brazilian Social Democracy Party´s candidate José Serra during the 2010 Brazilian presidential elections. The Proposta Serra´s purpose was to engage voters and campaing agents in political discussions in order to create a collaborative government plan. The project´s website reproduces some of the features of social network sites, such as public or semi-public profiles, photo albums and blogs. The Proposta Serra s singular characteristic was to give voters the opportunity to create thematic online forums turned to debate issues such as agriculture, housing, urban and rural public infra-structure and education. Through content analysis, we evaluated the deliberative quality of (N=200) messages exchanged by the participants in 4 different forums. Five analytical categories taken from the current online deliberation literature were used: Reciprocity, Reflexivity, Respect, Justification and Information. The results show high ratings of deliberation in the political discussions, demonstrating the forums´ usefulness to promote qualified cognitive exchanges. However, the lack of transparency in the selection process of voters suggestions decreased significantly the user sense of political efficacy

After France, Bulgaria became the second EU country to enact an open-ended ban on hydraulic fracturing in early 2012. This government action was a radical departure from an initially friendly, even enthusiastic stance on unconventional gas development. It resulted in months of unprecedented, broad political protest from environmental groups and local communities. The conflict was interpreted as one involving old questions about Bulgaria’s orientation toward Russia or the West. In neighbouring Romania, Bulgaria’s U-turn on shale gas energized a protest movement which had been relatively weak. In a turbulent election-year context, political leaders scrambled to deal with highly symbolic issues. A new government introduced a moratorium but ended it less than a year later. Another U-turn in public policy happened. Romania parted from Bulgaria’s example and set out to move forward on shale gas, aiding foreign investors. Massive protests against the policy and the investors surged, encircling the drilling operations. In both countries, public mistrust in institutions, environmental regulations and due process of law is a significant factor of political risk for energy companies.

Keywords: Bulgaria, Chevron, civil society, communication, energy, energy policy, environment, fracking, hydraulic fracturing, moratorium, Nabucco, natural gas, pipelines, political risk, protest, Gazprom, Romania, Russia, shale gas, South Stream, unconventional gas, USA

RESUMEN El activismo digital y la analítica de datos aplicados en las elecciones presidenciales estadounidenses de 2008, 2012 y 2016 han consolidado la " gestión computacional de campañas " como un recurso estratégico que implica un cambio de paradigma en la concepción de la comunicación política electoral. La incorporación de esas mismas herramientas y prácticas de movilización y búsqueda del voto a los comicios nacionales españoles de 2015 y 2016 demuestra que la campaña 'online' también adquiere un rol creciente en otras democracias de desarrollo tecnopolítico todavía menor. Los principales cambios del nuevo paradigma son: la microsegmentación y geolocalización de sectores muy particularizados de electores para el posterior envío de mensajes ajustados a cada microperfil, el papel decisivo de los simpatizantes como intermediarios del contacto electoral en una " influencia en dos pasos digital " y la generación por los grupos políticos de un discurso llamativo para las redes sociales con el objetivo de esquivar su dependencia ante los hegemónicos medios de comunicación de masas. Entre las transformación más profundas que se perciben se identifica el " tecnocabildeo " , o práctica del clientelismo propio de los pequeños grupos, las comunidades primitivas y el siglo XIX, a través de herramientas del siglo XXI. PALABRAS CLAVE: Comunicación política, ciberpolítica, campañas 'online', gestión computacional de campañas. La actividad digital en campañas electorales comenzó a mediados de los años noventa del siglo pasado como un adorno vanguardista del que no se esperaba una influencia excesiva sobre la dinámica política y menos aún sobre las intenciones de voto. La batalla se libraba –y se suponía que se seguiría librando-, por los apoyos de los grandes medios de masas-sobre todo la televisión-, en el despliegue de la publicidad electoral –ante todo de la radiotelevisiva-, y mediante la seducción de las grandes audiencias y de los analistas mediáticos en los debates televisados o las entrevistas de los candidatos más destacados. Aun así, a la altura de 1999, un académico visionario llegó a escribir que " esta nueva tecnología no revolucionará el resultado electoral pero sí cambiará la forma de hacer campañas " (Richard Davis, 1999:120). Pocos candidatos o partidos consideraron al pie de la letra el vaticinio, a pesar de que ya en las primarias y presidenciales estadounidenses del año 2000 se hizo evidente el auge de los sitios webs y los blogs de los principales contendientes. Una considerable cantidad de electores seguía dichas páginas, aportaba comentarios y también donativos por vía telemática o utilizaba

The use of digital technologies by political campaigns has been a topic of scholarly concern for over two decades. However, these studies have been mostly focused on analyzing the use of digital platforms without considering contextual factors of the race, like public opinion polling data. Polling data is an important information source for both citizens and candidates, and provides the latter with information that might drive strategic communication. In this paper, we explore the relationship between the use of social media in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Elections and candidates' standing in public opinion polls focusing on the surfacing and primary stages of the campaign. We are also interested in understanding whether candidates use Twitter and Facebook in similar ways. We used automated content analysis to categorize social media posts from all 21 Republican and Democratic candidates that ran for president in 2016. Specifically, we are interested in observing whether a candidate's performance in the polls drives certain communicative strategies, such as the use of attacks and messages of advocacy, as well as the focus on personal image or policy issues.

Resumo En el contexto del politainment online , el recurso de los memes políticos como fórmula humorística y creativa para configurar la imagen política se ha convertido en una práctica cada vez más habitual en las campañas electorales. Especialmente con motivo de la celebración de debates electorales, la difusión de memes políticos en redes sociales ha acaparado el interés de los académicos. Este artículo toma en consideración las taxonomías establecidas sobre los tipos de memes políticos y analiza su capacidad persuasiva. En concreto, la investigación incluye un análisis cuantitativo de los principales memes difundidos en Twitter durante los dos debates electorales que tuvieron lugar en la campaña electoral de 2019 en España: 4N y 7N. El estudio está fundamentado en la perspectiva del framing integrado (textual-visual) y se sustenta sobre el estudio del poder persuasivo de los memes basado en la importancia de cada uno de los elementos de la retórica ( pathos, ethos y logos ) con ...

This article presents and compares, through a literature review, the results of the major researches that discuss communication strategies taken in the social media by candidates running for public positions during the political campaigns in Brazil from 2010 on. The digital media have gained relevance in the Brazilian political context in the wake of the popularity " phenomenon " achieved by Barack Obama – especially on the Internet – during 2008 US presidential elections, and due to the changes in Brazil's electoral legislation, which took place in the following year, and allowed the candidates to use those tools in their campaign strategy. In order to support such analysis, scientific articles published in journals and/or presented at national conferences on communication, sociology and political science have been chosen. The selected essays focused on characterising and discussing the use of social media by candidates running for the positions of president of the republic, state governor, senator, congressman, state representative, city mayor and/or councillor in the elections of 2010, 2012 and/or 2014. By the end of the review, one compares the main findings of the cases discussed, and debates the common characteristics among them by setting the hypothesis that they can be defined as standard electoral communication strategies in social media developed by competitors running for mayor and proportional representative positions in Brazil. As a conclusion, one affirms that some strategies can be considered as standard, due to the high frequency of incidence in different campaigns, while the other one needs further research on the subject for its effective evidence.

Las estrategias de comunicación política en Twitter de los candidatos y candidatas a la presidencia de México en 2012, en Colombia en 2014 y Perú en 2016 fueron analizados durante los últimos dos meses de las campañas, incluido el surgimiento del movimiento #YoSoy132 en México, el escándalo de escuchas en Colombia y la eliminación de la contienda de un candidato popular en redes sociales en Perú. Se realizó un análisis de contenido cuantitativo de sus cuentas de Twitter que comparan el potencial de actividad e interactividad en los envíos de cada candidato en los tres países tomando como base posibilidades de apertura al debate público. La revisión empírica mostró que, aunque los candidatos y candidatas muestran oportunidades medias y altas de actividad, el nivel de interacción es casi nulo pero el interés ciudadano aumentó. Los y las contendientes utilizan Twitter en la dinámica de la Web 1.0. con flujos de información más verticales que horizontales eludiendo el diálogo y lo poco que intentan está delimitado a cumplir con la presencia, acumular y aumentar seguidores.

/ Use of Twitter as a Political Communication Strategy in Presidential Campaigns in Latin America

/ The political communication strategies on Twitter of the presidential candidates in Mexico in 2012, in Colombia in 2014, and Peru in 2016 were analyzed during the last two months of the campaigns, including the emergence of the #YoSoy132 movement in Mexico, the wiretapping scandal in Colombia, and the elimination of a popular candidate on social networks in Peru. A quantitative content analysis of their Twitter accounts was conducted, comparing the potential for activity and interactivity in the posts of each candidate in the three countries based on the possibilities for opening up to public debate. The empirical review showed that although the candidates exhibit medium and high opportunities for activity, the level of interaction is almost non-existent, but citizen interest increased. The contenders use Twitter in the dynamics of Web 1.0, with more vertical than horizontal information flows, avoiding dialogue and what little they attempt is limited to fulfilling the presence, accumulating, and increasing followers.

Questo è il Rapporto dell’Osservatorio sulla Comunicazione Politica e Pubblica dell’Università degli Studi di Torino sull’uso che i candidati ed i partiti hanno fatto di Facebook e di Twitter nella campagna elettorale per il primo turno delle Presidenziali di Francia 2017.

Il monitoraggio ha l’obiettivo di osservare le performance e le strategie comunicative dei candidati e dei partiti sulle due piattaforme social più importanti in chiave strategica (Twitter e Facebook). La rilevazione copre i 35 giorni antecedenti l’election day nell’arco temporale compreso tra il 20 Marzo ed il 23 Aprile 2017.

Il gruppo di ricerca: Alice Amari, Ruben Bianco, Claudia Frontino, Alice Fubini, Andrea Palumbo, Alessandra Rende, Celeste Satta, Alessandra Scalvini [Analisti PolComLab, Corso di Laurea Magistrale in “Comunicazione Pubblica e Politica”.

Responsabile scientifico e coordinatore: Cristopher Cepernich.

A apropriação de recursos e ferramentas digitais da internet por parte das campanhas políticas traz, a cada pleito, novas configurações para a relação ente candidatos e eleitores. Este artigo propõe uma discussão sobre a utilização dos sites pessoais por candidatos políticos durante o período de campanha eleitoral. Particularmente, verifica-se como estão dispostas diferentes ferramentas nas páginas dos agentes e que tipo de ênfase os sites propõem para a comunicação política do candidato com os internautas. O corpus da pesquisa consiste em websites de campanha de seis candidatos (quatro para o pleito de Governador e dois para o de Senador, no estado do Ceará). A partir das categorias utilizadas por Schweitzer (2005; 2011), a análise mostra que os candidatos dão maior ênfase a conteúdos informativos em suas páginas na web, deixando recursos de mobilização em segundo plano, enquanto ferramentas de participação são raras. Os websites continuam a ganhar novas ferramentas, mas a ênfase dos candidatos continua sendo a de utilizar tais plataformas como meios informativos e complementares para maximizar cotas de visibilidade e provocar um impacto positivo junto aos eleitores.

Abstract: The usage of resources and digital tools by political campaigns brings, every new election, new shapes to the relationship between candidates and voters. This article proposes a discussion about the adoption of personal websites by political candidates during the electoral campaign. Particularly, we verify how these political agents dispose different tools in their sites and what kind of emphasis these pages propose to the political communication of candidate with users. The corpus consists in campaign websites of six candidates (four to State Governor and two for Senator by the state of Ceará). Using the categories created by Schweitzer (2005; 2011), the analysis reveals that candidates emphasize informative content in their pages, leaving behind mobilization resources. Participation tools are rare. Websites keep gaining other tools, but the emphasis of candidates continues to be using these platforms as informative media and as an additional way to maximize their visibility and cause a positive impact to voters.

Questo report contiene l’analisi delle strategie di campagna dei candidati è fatta attraverso il monitoraggio dei post pubblicati sui profili Facebook e Twitter del profilo o pagina ufficiale legata alla
campagna dei candidati. L’unità di analisi è il singolo post.
I dati relativi agli eventi sono raccolti attraverso l’analisi dei contenuti dei social media
e dei siti web dei candidati. L’unità di analisi è il singolo evento.
Responsabile scientifico: Giuliano Bobba. Coder and data analyst: Matteo Senatore.

El activismo digital y la analítica de datos aplicados en las elecciones presidenciales estadounidenses de 2008, 2012 y 2016 han consolidado la “gestión computacional de campañas” como un recurso estratégico que implica un cambio de paradigma en la concepción de la comunicación política electoral. La incorporación de esas mismas herramientas y prácticas de movilización y búsqueda del voto a los comicios nacionales españoles de 2015 y 2016 demuestra que la campaña ‘online’ también adquiere un rol creciente en otras democracias de desarrollo tecnopolítico todavía menor. Los principales cambios del nuevo paradigma son: la microsegmentación y geolocalización de sectores muy particularizados de electores para el posterior envío de mensajes ajustados a cada microperfil, el papel decisivo de los simpatizantes como intermediarios del contacto electoral en una “influencia en dos pasos digital” y la generación por los grupos políticos de un discurso llamativo para las redes sociales con el objetivo de esquivar su dependencia ante los hegemónicos medios de comunicación de masas. Entre las transformación más profundas que se perciben se identifica el “tecnocabildeo”, o práctica del clientelismo propio de los pequeños grupos, las comunidades primitivas y el siglo XIX, a través de herramientas del siglo XXI.

Discorre sobre as chamadas campanhas eleitorais online e apresenta uma proposta teórico-metodológica para estudos sobre o tema por meio de abordagens centradas na Conversação Mediada por Computador (CMC), na Actor Network Theory (ANT) e na Análise de Redes Sociais (ARS), com foco no Twitter. A proposta contribui para o mapeamento da rede e da conversação que se forma em torno do engajamento cívico em períodos eleitorais e favorece o rompimento da centralização, que geralmente tem foco no desempenho dos agentes políticos, dando uma visão distribuída e de uso dialógico do microblog. Percebe-se que os agentes políticos ainda enfrentam o desafio da interatividade e conversação, e reforçamos que análises direcionadas aos conteúdos das mensagens compartilhadas devem observar: os limites e condicionamentos do microblog; os aspectos do discurso presente nas micronarrativas; e a analise de assunto.

he 2004 electoral campaign marks the beginning of internet use in the political communication in Romania. It has also been
the first campaign that resorts to negative communication
via online tools. The main actors of this negative campaign, motivated and involved in it by the strategic planners and PR specialists, were the sympathizers of the DA Alliance 2. Its communication consultants launched an online platform on their candidate’s website on which the party members and sympathizers could upload electoral materials . The funnier and
more depreciate the electoral materials regarding the
Social Democratic Party (SDP) counter-candidate were
, the more visible they were online, being sent through email, through visited blogs or viewed on video - sharing websites.
As a space dedicated to the freedom of expression, situated beyond any official (state) censorship, the online environment became the space where the DA Alliance sympathizers got actively involved in its campaign. One of the fundamental reasons was that the prime minister in 2004 (a SDP member) was easy to be mocked at and treated on internet as if he were a peer of
the DA Alliance voters. This pseudo-democratization transformed the DA Alliance candidate and its communication strategic
planners into winners.

Este artigo visa analisar a promoção de campanha negativa no Facebook pelos dois principais candidatos à Presidência do Brasil em 2014, Dilma Rousseff e Aécio Neves, comparando as estratégias de ambos nos períodos de pré-campanha e campanha eleitoral. A pesquisa é realizada por meio da coleta das 3907 postagens publicadas nas fanpages oficiais dos dois presidenciáveis entre 6 de abril e 26 de outubro. Por meio das técnicas de Análise de Conteúdo e de Análise de Discurso, são aferidos quais posts apresentam informações com potencial de afetar negativamente a imagem dos rivais. As mensagens são classificadas quanto à frequência, ao autor, ao alvo e ao foco das críticas. Os resultados indicam o aumento das investidas no decorrer da disputa; a alternância entre Dilma e Aécio como os maiores usuários desta estratégia; a reciprocidade de um ao outro na condição de alvos majoritários; e a preferência por críticas políticas.
Palavras-chave: internet e eleições; mídias sociais; campanha negativa.
This paper aims to analyze the negative campaign carried out on Facebook by the two main candidates running for Brazilian Presidency in 2014, Dilma Rousseff and Aécio Neves, comparing the strategies during the pre-campaign and campaign periods. The investigation is conducted by collecting the posts published in the official fanpages of the two candidates (N=3,907) between 6 April and 26 October. Content analysis' and discourse analysis' techniques are taken into consideration in order to check the posts that present information with the potential to negatively affect the image of the rivals. The posts are then categorized based on frequency, author, target and focus of the attacks. The results indicate an increase in criticism during the dispute; the alternation between Dilma and Aécio as the biggest sponsors; the reciprocity of one another in the condition of main targets; and the preference of both by political attacks.
Keywords: internet and election; social media; negative campaign.

En el contexto del politainment online, el recurso de los memes políticos como fórmula humorística y creativa para configurar la imagen política se ha convertido en una práctica cada vez más habitual en las campañas electorales. Especialmente con motivo de la celebración de debates electorales, la difusión de memes políticos en redes sociales ha acaparado el interés de los académicos. Este artículo toma en consideración las taxonomías establecidas sobre los tipos de memes políticos y analiza su capacidad persuasiva. En concreto, la investigación incluye un análisis cuantitativo de los principales memes difundidos en Twitter durante los dos debates electorales que tuvieron lugar en la campaña electoral de 2019 en España: 4N y 7N. El estudio está fundamentado en la perspectiva del framing integrado (textual-visual) y se sustenta sobre el estudio del poder persuasivo de los memes basado en la importancia de cada uno de los elementos de la retórica (pathos, ethos y logos) con el objetivo de analizar, asimismo, las consecuencias sobre su viralidad y repercusión en la audiencia social.

This article examines the most recent stage in patterns of on-line presidential political campaigning, from the point of view of the resources employed in operations of political campaigning through digital networks. Since the 2008 American elections in general, and Barack Obama's on-line campaign in particular, represent the most recent and to date most successful facet of this type of political operation, the resources and instruments used in his campaign will be taken as a case study. Thus, we inquire into an experience in the use of digital and on-line resources in political campaigning, attempting to detect which levels this on–line campaigning occurred at and to arrive at some generalizations on the tendencies and possibilities for this type of political campaign. We conclude that, although the use of digital communications resources should not be seen as the cause of Obama's success, nor even of the mobilization it generated or his popularity among young voters, it do...

Quale campagna elettorale stanno conducendo i leader sui social network? Le piattaforme sociali svolgono la funzione fondamentale di autopromozione sia in chiave di rapporto diretto con la fanbase, sia di condizionamento dell'agenda mediatica e giornalistica. I "Like" non sono voti. Tuttavia i social network sono oggi un dispositivo cruciale della campagna elettorale. Sono i nodi nevralgici dell'autopromozione del leader e, di riflesso, del partito che rappresentano: con la strategia "social" i leader entrano in relazione diretta con la comunità di riferimento, la coinvolgono e la mobilitano, ma sempre di più li utilizzano per condizionare i processi di agenda-building, al fine di influire sulle coperture mediatiche mainstream della campagna elettorale. I social network, per certi versi, sono il timone della campagna elettorale digitale. Matteo Salvini è in questa fase il leader più compiutamente digitale. Dispone di una base di supporter largamente più ampia su tutte le piattaforme considerate in questa analisi: Facebook, Instagram e Twitter (Figura 1). Al di là degli oltre 3 milioni e 600 mila fan su Facebook, è il solo a superare la soglia del milione di fan su Instagram, la piattaforma che in questa fase delle campagne digitali si conferma come il medium emergente. Figura 1. Le fanbase dei leader su Facebook, Instagram e Twitter (20 maggio 2019) Per ampiezza di pubblici, segue Luigi Di Maio, con quasi 2 milioni e 200 mila seguaci su Facebook e una platea di quasi 800 mila instagrammer. Si conferma già con questo dato generale-nella pluralità delle piattaforme utilizzate e dei relativi pubblici di riferimento-l'esistenza di uno stile comunicativo e di leadership più adattivo alle logiche della politica networked. Uno stile che caratterizza anche Giorgia Meloni, capace di superare il milione di fan su Facebook e di spingere Twitter alla soglia degli 800 mila

The issue of how to analyse and understand the effects of ‘online’ change in an ‘offline’ world, is one that has provoked a number of critiques from various sections of the academy. One approach in particular characterises certain types of online activism - such as mass email campaigns - as incapable of achieving any significant ‘real world’ effects. This critique is associated with theories of “slacktivism” or “clicktivism” (discussed by Karpf 2010 and Schulman 2009). Others, on the other hand, have argued that social media use represents both a democratising force in itself, and a practical tool that can help enact social change (Kellner 2002; Nugrobo 2011; Sutadi 2011 cited in Lim). There is, however, a more fundamental issue at stake: whether or not researchers recognise and understand what forms of change online activism actually claims to produce.

In order to move the debate forward from an oversimplified question - whether online activism does or does bring about ‘change’ as a general condition - this chapter asks how best to investigate perceptions of change and, crucially, what forms of change online activists believe can be attained. This element of the study uses methods such as qualitative interviews and case studies, the results of which are used to argue that a focus on ‘policy responsiveness’ should not be used as the only measure of socio-political transformation.

This paper aims to identify some of the contemporary transformations in Brazilian online campaigns by analyzing three factors: (1) the new possibilities of providing political information, (2) the availability of mechanisms for participation and (3) the use of tools directed to improve accountability in electoral contexts. Paradoxically, such transformations have proven to be a kind of trend that directs how consultants manage online campaigns. In this sense, once the candidates – in case they wish to legitimize their political positions before their electorate – watch themselves being forced to offer the users abundant political information, as well as mechanisms of intervention and accountability, we consider this scenario and stand by the idea that improvement demands aimed at democracy as a whole end up being transferred to deputation candidates themselves.

This article examines the most recent stage in patterns of on-line presidential political campaigning, from the point of view of the resources employed in operations of political campaigning through digital networks. Since the 2008 American elections in general, and Barack Obama's on-line campaign in particular, represent the most recent and to date most successful facet of this type of political operation, the resources and instruments used in his campaign will be taken as a case study. Thus, we inquire into an experience in the use of digital and on-line resources in political campaigning, attempting to detect which levels this on–line campaigning occurred at and to arrive at some generalizations on the tendencies and possibilities for this type of political campaign. We conclude that, although the use of digital communications resources should not be seen as the cause of Obama's success, nor even of the mobilization it generated or his popularity among young voters, it does nonetheless make up a part of the social and political environment that determined these phenomena.