CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2024
| Author | Imedashvili, Elene |
|---|---|
| Title | Intersection of Attention Economy and Populist Politics: Communication Tactics of Populist vs Mainstream Parties on Social Media |
| Summary | This thesis explores how politicians from mainstream and populist parties adapt their communication strategies to the new informational environment, where attention is a scarce and valuable resource. It specifically examines whether populist parties employ attention-grabbing strategies more frequently than their mainstream counterparts. Set against the broader context of digital communication, this analysis focuses on the 2017 Austrian national elections. Utilizing the AUTNES 2017 dataset, the research employs content analysis of 2,769 posts from six political parties, with a detailed comparison of posts from the populist Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) and the mainstream Austrian People's Party (ÖVP). The study assesses the prevalence of visual elements, exclamation marks, and attention-grabbing tools in textual content within the 6-week pre-election period. The findings partly support my central hypothesis that populists use more attention-grabbing strategies than mainstream parties. Specifically, the FPÖ employs attention-grabbing tools more frequently in their textual content compared to the ÖVP, especially with a significantly higher use of exclamation marks. Contrary to expectations, however, the study does not confirm a higher use of visual communication among populists, as both parties exhibit similar levels of visual communication usage. This thesis enhances our understanding of how political groups utilize digital platforms, showing the tactics different parties use to capture and control attention online. It underscores how both populist and mainstream parties adapt their communication to the new informational environment, impacting how voters perceive and interact with them in a world full of information but short on attention. |
| Supervisor | Mariyana Angelova |
| Department | Undergraduate Studies BA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2024/imedashvili_elene.pdf |
Visit the CEU Library.
© 2007-2021, Central European University