Political communication in mobile instant messaging services. The strategic use of Telegram as a digital electoral campaign tool

Abstract

Mobile instant messaging services have become a new channel for the communication of political parties. Their privacy makes them an interesting space to report in a more direct way, thus avoiding censorship or ideologized frames. This doctoral thesis by compendium of publications aims at analysing the political use that parties make of one of these platforms with greater relevance in the current political space, Telegram. Results indicate that the parties use it as a means of self-promotion, electoral mobilization, and criticism of the adversary. In addition, a high level of fragmentation of the agenda, the lack of personalization and a referential role of the conventional media in the political discourse in Telegram are observed. Finally, the influence of several factors on its use such as ideology, trajectory, and position within the government is detected.