Rethinking and Analyzing Political Communication in the Digital Era
A special issue of Social Sciences (ISSN 2076-0760).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 October 2023) | Viewed by 14081
Special Issue Editors
Interests: public policies for science; technology and innovation; sociology of science and science communication
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In the field of social research, the emergence of devices that constantly collect and store our practices and opinions has necessitated profound readjustment in the analysis of political processes. Social media and big data techniques have become crucial to understand the changes in digital political communication. Social media has allowed citizens to compete in the public sphere with traditional actors that used to have a remarkable influence on public opinion. This disintermediation process has diversified citizen exposure and participation in public political communication. Scholars are increasingly concerned with the increase in the polarization of discourses, the effects of disinformation on changes in opinion, the contagion processes in social networks, and the use of communication strategies such as incivility or emotivism in public discourse. These types of communication dynamics are making open and inclusive debates more difficult, which can pose a threat to democratic processes. The dynamics of digital political communication and its consequences require us to reflect on how we understand and analyze them.
The aim of this Special Issue is to explore how social media and big data analysis are applied to the understanding of the dynamics of digital political communication and other sociopolitical processes. Specifically, we focus on how platforms, social networks, and technologies deal with big data in digitally mediated debates. We aim to promote interdisciplinary collaboration in data science research to improve our understanding of phenomena such as public debates during electoral campaigns around the world, public discussion processes on controversial issues, emerging social issues, and social coordination.
We seek to receive innovative approaches and papers that employ a wide range of methodologies, such as the use of recently booming techniques within the repertoire of social science methods, (i.e., big data, social network analysis, and computational simulation), although other methodological approaches are equally welcome. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
- Politics of disinformation
- Methodological approaches using big data, machine learning, and other techniques in political communication
- The role of public opinion in policymaking
- Digital transparency and political communication
- Echo chambers and filter bubbles in political discussions
- Identities and stereotypes on social media
- Digital activism
- Big data and digital gap
- Language and polarization in sociopolitical discourses
- Analysis of social and political debates in digital social networks.
Dr. Ana Fernández Zubieta
Dr. Belén Casas-Mas
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- political communication
- digital research methods
- social media
- big data
- digital activism
- digital public sphere
- polarization
- disinformation
- digital inequalities
- digital transparency
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