Political News on Facebook: Analysis of the Most Commented Posts from the Spanish Media During the 2023 General Election Campaign

Abstract

This study analyzes the interaction and comment patterns of Facebook users with posts from the main Spanish newspapers during the July 2023 General Election campaign. Using a dataset comprising 12,937 posts, we assessed the frequency and type of interactions, focusing mainly on comments, but also on likes, shares, and angry reactions. The analysis was conducted using R Commander to identify trends and correlations across different types of news content, distinguishing between political and non-political posts as well as hard and soft news. The results indicate that, despite the high posting frequency on Facebook by the ten leading Spanish newspapers—often publishing multiple times per day during the campaign—user engagement was generally modest. Political news posts, while less frequent, garnered more comments relative to other reactions compared to non-political posts. This trend was consistent across media outlets with different ideological orientations. Key findings reveal that hard news, particularly political content, elicited fewer interactions than soft news, contradicting the hypothesis that political content would drive higher engagement during the election period. However, political posts that did attract interaction were more likely to receive comments, suggesting a deeper engagement level among users interested in political discourse.