We need to talk. Engagement 2.0 on Facebook during the Spanish cyber campaign of December 20, 2015

Abstract

The political context in the wake of the General Elections of December 20, 2015 was changed significantly due to the emergence of the political parties Podemos and Ciudadanos. As the internet was used in previous campaigns, it was predicted that it would continue to play a key role in these General Elections. Of all the possibilities that the internet has to offer, social networks have the potential to allow politicians to establish a two-way communication with citizens without intermediaries. This work aimed to explore the depth of the dialogue between the main Spanish political parties and Facebook users. To achieve this, a quantitative statistical analysis was carried out of the messages published on Facebook by political parties and their candidates during two weeks of the electoral campaign. The validity and reliability of the Engagement 2.0 scale was able to be verified, in accordance with previous studies. Contrary to our initial hypothesis, this dialogue remained at minimum levels, despite being revealed as a suitable strategy to increase the diffusion of the posts. The distinction between traditional and emerging parties was not a key factor in improving communication with followers.