Digital Caudillos

The Use of Social Media in Guatemalan Presidential Campaigns

Bibliographic Data

ID6156451
AuthorsKevin Pallister (0000-0001-9303-7838, Bridgewater College, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume13
Issue2
Pages269-283
Publication date2021-05-11
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Politics in Latin America (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1868-4890 • E-ISSN: 1866-802X
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1866802x211010319
OpenAlexW3161202667
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited15

This article contributes to the scholarship on Latin American campaigning by presenting data on the use of social media by presidential candidates in Guatemala’s 2019 election, including a content analysis of more than 2,000 Facebook posts along fifteen variables. The data show that Facebook use by presidential campaigns is ubiquitous and allows campaigns to disseminate messages in non-traditional formats. Candidates use their Facebook accounts to mention issues of concern to voters and to make promises to fix the country’s problems, but offer far more slogans and vague promises than detailed policy proposals. They also rarely attack other candidates or tout their own qualifications for the presidency. The data also reveal systematic differences in campaign messaging between frontrunner and long-shot candidates

Advertising · Business · Dissemination · Latin Americans · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Presidency · Presidential campaign · Presidential system · Public relations · Scholarship · Social media · Sociology · Cultural and political discourse analysis · Law · Media Studies and Communication · Social Media and Politics

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