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1
“We ha e aken a majo s ep o wa d oday”: he Use o Twi e by
Spanish Mino Pa ies
An onio Pineda
ORCID: 0000-0002-0249-1881
Uni e sidad de Se illa
Fe nández Gómez, Jo ge Da id
ORCID: 0000-0002-0833-6639
Uni e sidad de Se illa
Rebollo-Bueno, Sa a
ORCID: 0000-0001-8179-6562
Uni e sidad de Se illa
Co esponding au ho :
An onio Pineda
E-mail: [email p o ec ed]
Mino pa ies—also known as “ hi d pa ies” in he US—a e in eg al componen s o democ a ic sys ems.
Despi e being igno ed by he mains eam media, con empo a y Spanish poli ics e eal ha mino pa ies
may challenge he hegemony o adi ional o ganiza ions, and e en en e pa liamen a y poli ics. This pape
analyzes Spanish mino pa ies’ social media communica ion in he con ex o he Ap il 2019 elec ion. A
sample o 1,498 wee s was con en -analyzed, ga he ed om he o icial Twi e p o iles o he ou main
na ional mino pa ies: PACMA, he Communis Pa y o he Spanish Peoples, Ze o Cu s, and VOX.
Resul s indica e a lack o pa y-ci izen in e ac ion, as well as a me a-campaigning app oach whe eby he
wee s’ opics and unc ions a e mos ly ela ed o he pa ies hemsel es and campaign beha io .
Keywo ds: mino pa y communica ion; Twi e ; social media and poli ics; Spanish mino pa ies
In oduc ion
2
In an in e na ional con ex whe e populis and na ionalis poli ical op ions a e on he ise,
he e osion o he adi ional wo-pa y sys em in Spain has al e ed he scope o he ole
o mino pa ies. The mos e iden case is ha o VOX, a adical igh -wing pa y ounded
in 2013 which, when he 2016 gene al elec ions we e held, did no ha e a single sea in
Pa liamen ; since he No embe 2019 gene al elec ions, howe e , VOX has become he
hi d mos impo an na ional pa y in Spain, inc easing i s elec o al base om 47,000 o
2.6 million o e s in jus h ee yea s.
The de ini ion o mino pa ies—also called “ hi d pa ies” in he Uni ed S a es
(Rosens one, Beh and Laza us, 1996; Gillespie, 2013; Ne ille-Shepa d, 2014b)— elies
on a classi ica ion o poli ical pa ies by size, which d aws a dis inc ion be ween majo ,
la ge, medium-sized and small ones, he las being de ined as “pa ies o a small size,
usually exp essions o signi ican mino i ies, whose impo ance depends on hei capaci y
o o m coali ions, and which o en play he ole o ‘a owheads’” (Ma ínez Sosped a,
1996: 35). Mo eo e , mino pa ies lou ish in mul ipa y poli ical sys ems (Sa o i,
1987)—indeed, in a s ic ly wo-pa y sys em, hi d pa ies a e hose ha canno eplace
any o he wo majo pa ies o ans o m he wo-pa y sys em in o a mul ipa y one
(Gillespie, 2013).
Key’s mino pa y classi ica ion dis inguishes be ween con inuing doc inal and
issue pa ies, on he one hand, and sho -li ed pa ies, on he o he . To his axonomy
Gillespie (2013) adds a hi d ype: s a e/local signi ican pa ies. Con inuing doc inal and
issue pa ies can las o decades and, al hough hey a ely ob ain good elec ion esul s,
hei con inui y is due o he ai h o hei suppo e s when de ending hei c edo o ce ain
issues. Sho -li ed pa ies end o de i e om p o es mo emen s o spli s om majo
pa ies, and many o hem iden i y wi h an in luen ial ounde . These pa ies can ob ain
no able elec ion esul s, e en de e mining which majo pa y will go e n. As o s a e/local
3
signi ican pa ies, hese end o wield poli ical in luence in hei communi y o s a e—
e en hough hey may also ha e a s ake in na ional poli ics—wi h he po en ial o
becoming majo pa ies in bo h sphe es.
In he poli ical ma ke , mino pa ies gene ally come up agains some o he
obs acles ha “ hi d-pa y candida es” encoun e in he US, such as insu icien campaign
unding, de icien media co e age, exclusion om p esiden ial deba es and “a belie
among o e s ha suppo o hi d pa ies is a was ed ballo ” (Ne ille-Shepa d, 2014a:
132). No wi hs anding hese cons ain s, mino pa ies ind an oppo uni y in he
elec o a e’s dissa is ac ion wi h majo pa ies, wi h a mo e luc ua ing o e and a ce ain
deg ee o misalignmen wi h hem, in a con ex o widesp ead scep icism (Fu long, 2001).
The capaci y o le e age his dissa is ac ion has o do wi h he ac ha , as no ed by
Gillespie, “Some o he spi i o insu gency exis s in almos all mino pa ies” (2013: 49).
In addi ion o challenging dominan pa ies, mino o ganisa ions can ob ain sea s in
legisla i e poli ical bodies and play an impo an ole in hem (Fu long, 2001), e en
cons i u ing a ec o o change. This change can de i e om hei po en ial o al e o
co ec he policy posi ions o ideological line o a majo pa y (Gillespie, 2013).
Acco ding o Rapopo and S one, “Thi d pa ies ins iga e change by s imula ing a
esponse om majo pa ies. The key o unde s anding how hi d pa ies p oduce change
is ano he widely obse ed egula i y: success ul hi d pa ies do no las long” (2019: 5),
since hei cons i uen s end up being cou ed and co-op ed by hei majo coun e pa s
(Rapopo and S one, 2019). Addi ionally, small pa ies ha e been a he o e on o
change and p og ess in eedom long be o e majo pa ies in coun ies like he US, om
b eaking down gende o acial ba ie s when choosing candida es, o inno a ing in policy
o democ a ic s uc u al e o ms (Rosens one, Beh and Laza us, 1996; Gillespie, 2013).
4
In his connec ion, one o he mos impo an unc ions o mino pa ies is hei abili y o
include new issues on he poli ical agenda.
The in oduc ion o issues ela es o he impo ance ha ideological p inciples
ha e o mino pa ies—especially when hei campaigns a e con as ed wi h hose o
majo pa ies, which end o employ a “ca ch-all” s a egic app oach and ideological
agueness. Acco ding o Ne ille-Shepa d (2014b: 218), hi d pa y campaigns “a e
almos always s eeped in ideology”. In his ega d, i is impo an o no e ha hese g oups
ep esen he en i e poli ical spec um: “Thi d pa ies, a e all, ha e ep esen ed nea ly
e e y poli ical poin o iew, om he Communis Pa y on he le o he Ame ican
Independen Pa y on he igh ” (Rosens one, Beh and Laza us, 1996: 5). In ac , he
p esence o mino pa ies can be associa ed wi h he ideological di e si y o a poli ical
sys em. Thus, o Sa o i, a mul ipa y sys em e lec s a eali y o pola iza ion o
agmen a ion which leads o an ideological gap, namely, “ he o e all scope o he
ideological spec um o any gi en poli ical communi y” (1987: 161; o iginal emphasis),
so ha he g ea e he agmen a ion o a communi y is, he g ea e he pola iza ion will
be, hus dis ancing mode a e pos u es om poli ical eali y. In his con ex , mino pa ies
o en embody adical and ex emis s ances, such as ha o he Libe a ian Pa y in he
US, o he ex eme igh -wing Falange Española de las JONS in Spain. In his ein,
longi udinal da a indica e ha niche pa ies—like he G eens, he Communis s, and he
ex eme Righ —a e mo e likely o imp o e hei elec ion esul s i hey oe a clea
ideological line (Dumi escu, 2011).
Mino pa y media co e age and online campaigning
Rega ding communica ion, i has become a pla i ude o claim ha he e is a huge
di e ence be ween he news co e age gi en o majo and mino pa ies, he la e
ecei ing scan a en ion om he media (E ans e al., 2019). The negligible co e age
5
ecei ed by hi d-pa y candida es is due o he ac ha “b oadcas e s and publishe s do
no hink hey wa an a en ion” (Rosens one, Beh and Lanza us, 1996: 35). Ve sus he
con inual a en ion ha he media pay o majo pa ies, small o ganisa ions ha dly ge a
look in, inso a as hey a e conside ed o be less newswo hy (Ahmed, Cho and Jaidka,
2017). Thus, he possibili y o a aining a posi ion o powe , o o becoming a ele an
poli ical playe , is a decisi e a iable: “I is no he majo -mino pa y s a us ha
de e mines newswo hiness, bu he deg ee o po en ial in luence he pa y exe cises in
he poli ical powe game” (Rudd and Connew, 2007: 52-53). Owing o his ho se- ace
men ali y, “mino pa ies and he issues hey seek o con ey emain la gely in isible o
o e s who ely upon ele ision as hei sou ce o poli ical news” (Denema k, Wa d and
Bean, 2007: 95). Addi ionally, he dis ega d o mino pa ies can be boiled down o
ideological easons ela ing o he inge posi ion o many o hem: “Dissen has a ely a
iend in he news media” (Ki ch, 2015: 399). I should also be no ed, howe e , ha he
g ea e he powe o a candida e o pa y is, he mo e c i ical ea men ha pe son o
o ganisa ion will ecei e om he media, and ice e sa: mino pa ies ecei e less media
a en ion, bu also less nega i e app aisals (Gnisci, Galen and Conza, 2014).
The lack o media co e age in luences he communica ion and campaigns o
mino pa ies. In he US, o ins ance, hi d-pa y campaigning chie ly se es he
“al e na i e pu pose o aising awa eness abou ce ain issues”, gi en ha i is imp obable
ha hey will win p esiden ial elec ions. Acco dingly, i may be claimed ha “ hi d-pa y
candida es a e no aiming o win bu o agi a e” (Ne ille-Shepa d, 2014a: 134). The
li e a u e also no es ha he he o ical s a egies o Ame ican hi d-pa y candida es a e
pola ized, non-con en ional, and sel -des uc i e, hese candida es es ablishing hei own
discu si e ules, di e ing in unc ion and o m om majo -pa y he o ic (Ne ille-
Shepa d, 2014b, 2014a). F om he iewpoin o he media employed, a s udy by
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Dumi escu (2011) on he use o pos e s in he 2007 elec ion in F ance and Belgium,
indica es ha mino pa ies used hem o dissemina ing in o ma ion wi h an eye o
expanding hei elec o al base. Compa ing online and adi ional campaign pos e s,
S e an and Venema (2020) poin ou ha Ge man mino pa ies use ex ual
pe sonalisa ion o a highe ex en , employ ewe ideological symbols, and make mo e use
o isual nega i e campaigning han majo pa ies.
Rega ding he In e ne , he li e a u e has ocused on aspec s such as he
oppo uni y ha online campaigning o e s mino pa ies o le elling he playing ield.
The ad en o he In e ne ga e ise o expec a ions abou he ad an ages ha in o ma ion
and communica ion echnologies could o e inge, mino , and an i-es ablishmen pa ies
(Ma golis, Resnick and Le y, 2005). Mino pa ies hemsel es ha e shown hei
en husiasm o he Web, app ecia ing he ad an ages o web campaigning (Gibson and
McAllis e , 2015). This ela es o he so-called “inno a ion” o “equaliza ion hypo hesis”,
which s a es ha hose pa ies and candida es a a disad an age can gain g ound on
es ablished pa ies hanks o online media, which allows smalle pa ies o o e come he
disad an ages ha hey ace in he o line media wo ld, inc easing he e iciency o hei
communica ion (Schwei ze , 2008; Ve gee , He mans and Sams, 2011). In con as , he
“no maliza ion” hypo hesis asse s ha online campaigning only ein o ces powe
ela ions exis ing in he o line wo ld, so ha , ins ead o leading o equaliza ion, he Web
would me ely be eplica ing he imbalances be ween majo and mino pa ies (Lilleke e
al., 2011; Gibson and McAllis e , 2015; Klinge and S ensson, 2015; Ahmed, Cho and
Jaidka, 2017). Ne e heless, he concep o no maliza ion goes beyond he no ion ha
moneyed pa ies pe o m be e online: i also ela es o he Web aking on adi ional
poli ical pa e ns and beha iou . No by coincidence, Ma golis and Resnick (2000), who
o mula ed he no maliza ion hesis, poin ed ou he passi e na u e o he web, and we e
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skep ical owa ds he celeb a ion o online in e ac i i y. Thus, no maliza ion o o line
p ac ices would also imply he mig a ion o ea u es such as one-di ec ional,
b oadcas ing-led, and non-in e ac i e p ac ices o he online wo ld (Pa melee, Roman and
Beasley, 2018).
In his connec ion, some s udies claim ha majo pa ies use he In e ne mo e
ac i ely, while o he s e eal ha eme ging pa ies a e mo e ac i e in he use o digi al
echnology (Ahmed, Cho and Jaidka, 2017). In he case o he ex eme Righ , o example,
he e a e indica ions ha i has exploi ed i o a g ea ex en , because i has allowed
ex emis s o ci cum en adi ional media. The li e a u e has also highligh ed he case o
G een pa ies, whose websi es’ con en and in e ac i i y le els ma ch hose o majo
pa ies in e e y espec . O he au ho s poin ou ha an engaging and in e ac i e use o
websi es may gi e smalle pa ies an elec o al edge (Koc-Michalska e al., 2016).
Howe e , s udies o pa y websi es in gene al elec ions ha e e ealed he p edominance
o majo pa ies (Gula i and Williams, 2007), hus ein o cing he no maliza ion
hypo hesis (Gibson and McAllis e , 2015).
In iew o he ac ha he In e ne was no bene i ing small pa ies— hus
sus aining he no maliza ion hesis—social media and he Web 2.0 b ea h new li e in o
he equaliza ion hesis, hese ools se ing o o ganise suppo e s, engage a younge
audience, and imp o e elec ion p ospec s (Gibson and McAllis e , 2015). Di e en
au ho s unde s and he ele ance o social media—o social ne wo king si es (he eina e
SNSs)— o mino pa ies as a campaign ool, since hey a e less cos ly and allow o
engaging e y speci ic audience segmen s, making he mos o di ec and unmedia ed
con ac be ween o e s and candida es, and b oadening he audience (La uen e Pé ez and
Ve ón Lassa, 2013; Gibson and McAllis e , 2015). In his sense, he p incipal unc ion o
SNSs is o o e hose pa ies ha nei he a ac media co e age, no can a o d o spend
8
much on ad e ising, “a isibili y pla o m” (Ahmed, Cho and Jaidka, 2017: 1380). As o
message con en , al hough he deba e on SNSs is mo e ideologically uni o m, i includes
a g ea e le el o in e ac ion and he deploymen o a ional a gumen s, in con as o
majo pa ies which use SNSs as pla o ms o sel -exp ession (Vale a O daz, 2017). The
possibili ies o SNSs a e also e iden in he longi udinal s udy pe o med by Gibson and
McAllis e (2015) in Aus alian elec ions: al hough he esul s go a long way o unde pin
he no maliza ion hesis— o ins ance, as o he de elopmen o pe sonal websi es—i
was he mino playe s ha pu Web 2.0 ools o a g ea e use. In he No wegian con ex ,
La sson and Moe (2014) ound ha Twi e was an a ena o “unde dog” pa ies, wi h
dominan poli icians absen om dialogical communica ion. In ano he No way- ocused
compa a i e s udy o in e ac ion s a egies in he 2013 elec ion, Kalsnes (2016) ound
ha mino pa ies ecei ed mo e eplies om he public in Facebook.
Howe e , o he s udies ha e been less op imis ic abou he oppo uni ies ha
SNSs o e o mino pa ies. LaMa e and Suzuki-Lamb ech (2013) ound ou ha US
hi d-pa y candida es we e a lo less inclined o open Twi e accoun s han hose o he
majo pa ies in he 2010 House o Rep esen a i es elec ion; indings in keeping wi h
hose o E ans, Co do a and Sipole (2014) in he 2012 House o Rep esen a i es elec ion.
An analysis o SNSs in he 2012 Sou h Ko ean elec ions, e ealed ha majo pa ies and
leade s had a g ea e deg ee cen ali y han hei mino coun e pa s— his being
unde s ood as he co-occu ence equencies o a pa y/leade and he pa ies/leade s
(Nam, Lee and Pa k, 2015). In a s udy on he Is aeli 2015 elec ion, Le -On and Hale a-
Ami (2018) ound ha dominan pa ies and candida es a e aking o e Facebook, hus
suppo ing he no maliza ion hypo hesis.
As o he use o Twi e in pa icula , esea ch has also b ough o ligh ce ain
pa e ns. In he 2012 US House o Rep esen a i es elec ion, E ans, Co do a and Sipole
15
ac , he ie ces opposi ion o he cu en le -leaning go e nmen in he con ex o he
COVID-19 c isis.
O iginally an amalgam o di e en like-minded communis pa ies, he PCPE was
ounded by Ignacio Gallego, a his o ical membe o he Communis Pa y o Spain
(he eina e PCE) in Mad id in Janua y 1984. Wi h a adical le -wing ben , he PCPE is
“inspi ed by he p inciples o he Thi d In e na ional, Uni ied Ma xis -Leninis and
P ole a ian In e na ionalis s, whose immedia e aim is o o e come he poli ical, o ganic
and ideological de e io a ion caused by Eu ocommunism’s enouncemen o Leninism
and In e na ionalism, and o o e ide he his o ical PCE as a use ul ool o con on ing
capi alism in i s ad anced s age, namely, impe ialism” (Pa ido Comunis a de los Pueblos
de España, n.d.). A s aunch ad oca e o wo ke s’ mo emen , i s main ad e sa y is
impe ialism, which i comba s h ough i s opposi ion o NATO and he o eign mili a y
bases in Spain.
Pe aining o he media employed by hese pa ies, SNSs we e chosen because
hey a e a e y ele an ool when shaping public opinion in Spain: acco ding o o icial
sociological da a, hey a e he second mos p e e ed channel o keeping ab eas o
poli ical a ai s and elec ion news (CIS, 2019). Addi ionally, SNSs do no impose on
small pa ies he ba ie s ha hey end o encoun e in media such as ele ision. Mo e
speci ically, Twi e was chosen o se e al easons. Fi s ly, i is a highly used si e o
elec ion campaigning by pa ies and candida es (Junghe , 2016), as well as he SNS ha
has a oused he g ea es schola ly in e es ega ding poli ics (Filimono e al., 2016;
Ramos-Se ano, Fe nández Gómez and Pineda, 2018; E ans e al., 2019). Secondly,
Twi e use is ai ly widesp ead in Spain (Ga cía O ega and Zugas i Azag a, 2014), hus
making i an en icing SNS o he poli ical class. Thi dly, he li e a u e has highligh ed
16
he impo ance o Twi e o pa ies like VOX, which uses his SNS ca e ully because i
is equen ly employed by he media as a sou ce (Ga cía He e o, 2019).
The Twi e sample comp ises all he wee s pos ed by each pa y on hei o icial
p o iles be ween 12 and 28 Ap il 2019, a pe iod unning om he s a o he campaign
o elec ion day. VOX’s wee s we e e ie ed using he OPILEAK ool de eloped by he
company Dinamic Á ea, which has egis e ed apps o he e ie al o wee s using his
SNS’s applica ion p og am in e aces. The wee s o he o he h ee pa ies— he PCPE,
RC-GV and he PACMA—much less nume ous han hose o VOX, we e e ie ed
manually. The sample o wee s o alled 1,498, he majo i y o which had been pos ed by
VOX (847 wee s), ollowed by RC-GV (261), he PACMA (220) and he PCPE (170).
Con en analysis (K ippendo , 2004) was he da a-ga he ing and analy ical
echnique applied o he sample. To answe he esea ch ques ions, we used he
ope a ionaliza ion p oposed by G aham e al. (2013), who de eloped a coding scheme o
analysing B i ish campaigning on Twi e in 2010, which was adap ed o he Spanish
con ex . To analyze in e ac i i y, h ee ypes we e dis inguished: no mal pos s, @- eplies
and e wee s—a ypology simila o he one used by La sson and Moe (2011)—al hough,
unlike G aham e al. (2013), e wee s wi h commen s we e no aken in o accoun , on he
unde s anding ha hey ha e a unc ion simila o ha o no mal e wee s. On he basis
o his ypology, @- eply was ope a ionalized as he basic indica o o in e ac ion—one
ha has al eady been used widely o s udying in e ac i i y (E ans, Co do a and Sipole,
2014; Zugas i Azag a and Pé ez González, 2015). The analysis o in e ac i i y was
ein o ced by including a iables ela ing o he numbe o mul imedia elemen s (links,
images and ideos) and hash ags ha each pos con ained—unde s anding he a e age
numbe o hash ags used in each pos as a seconda y indica o o in e ac i i y (Ve ón
Lassa and Palla és Na a o, 2017), o he li e a u e has no ed ha , when used co ec ly,
17
hash ags aim o inc ease in e ac ions (Ca es Ba oso, 2018). In any case, he ac ha
hash ags a e jus socio echnical a o dances (Ra hnayake and N alla, 2020) whose use
depends on ac o s beyond he pa ies’ capaci ies, makes hem subo dina e o @- eplies
as a as in e ac i i y is conce ned.
Secondly, ope a ionaliza ion akes in o accoun he p oposal o G aham e al.
(2013) o he opics add essed in he wee s, o which we added speci ic opics in o de
o adap i o he Spanish con ex (see Table 4 o he comple e lis o opics). As o wee
unc ions, we employed he ollowing ca ego ies es ablished by E ans, Co do a and
Sipole (2014) and E ans e al. (2019):
- Campaign. Messages in which candida es alk abou wha hey ha e done du ing he
campaign, as well as wee s con aining links o campaign ma e ials o o websi es
wi h in o ma ion on hei candidacies.
- Media. Twee s no i ying ollowe s abou he appea ances o candida es in he media,
o abou publica ions ocusing on hem in he media.
- Issues (posi ion aking/policy s a emen ). Messages aimed a aising awa eness abou
a public policy a ea o a campaign opic ( he economy, abo ion, e c.), whe he aking
a s ance (posi ion aking) o no (policy s a emen ) when epo ing on an issue.
- A ack. A di ec a ack agains , o c i icism o elec o al i als.
- A ack o he . A acks agains o he g oups ( he Go e nmen , he media, ins i u ions,
e c.).
- Pe sonal. Messages ha do no all in o any o he p e ious ca ego ies, and which
ei he end o e ol e a ound amily/p i a e aspec s, o ha e no hing o do wi h he
campaign.
18
Rega ding in e -code eliabili y, an ini ial in o mal es was un on some andom wee s,
which se ed o in oduce a a iable ela ing o hash ags and o cla i y he meaning o
some ca ego ies. Following his, a i s wo-code es was un, which esul ed in he
inclusion o a new ca ego y in he wee opic a iable. The code s— ou unde g adua e
s uden s— ecei ed aining bo h be o e and a e he i s es , which esul ed in a second
eliabili y es ha yielded indica o s o ag eemen highe han 0.95 o all a iables, using
K ippendo ’s alpha.
Resul s
Table 1 shows he ypes o wee s pos ed, p o iding a con as be ween he gene al one
and ha o he speci ic case o VOX. The PACMA, RC-GV and he PCPE gene ally
pos ed no mal wee s, wi h pe cen ages close o equal o 100 pe cen in he cases o he
PACMA and he PCPE. On he con a y, VOX eso ed mo e o en o e wee s—in ac ,
o e 60 pe cen o i s messages we e e wee s. Fo example, on 28 Ap il 2019 he pa y
e wee ed a message pos ed by Rocío Monas e io, one o i s main leade s, claiming ha
hence o h i was going o igh o Spain in he Cong ess (Monas e io, 2019). A any
a e, he ‘ o al’ column in Table 1 e inces he p edominance o no mal wee s,
exempli ied by a message pos ed by he PACMA on 25 Ap il, in which he pa y decla ed
ha i was going o do i s u mos ‘ o make su e ha iolence agains animals becomes a
hing o he pas in ou coun y’ (PACMA, 2019). On he o he hand, in e ac i i y and
dialogue wi h use s we e i ele an ac o s o all pa ies, excep o RC-GV, which
de o ed 22 pe cen o i s messages o @ eplies.
TABLE 1 HERE
The h ee pa ies wi h a le -wing ideology also coincided in he use o mul imedia
ea u es in hei wee s (see Table 2): he PACMA, RC-GV and he PCPE included images
19
in hei pos s as a p ima y esou ce, while also gi ing ela i e impo ance o links and
ideos—ba ing he PCPE, which only included ideos on one occasion.
TABLE 2 HERE
The impo ance o images is exempli ied by a wee agains p i a iza ions pos ed by RC-
GV on 18 Ap il (see Image 1), as well as by a wee pos ed by he PCPE ea u ing i s
isual ideological symbols (see Image 2).
IMAGE 1 HERE
IMAGE 2 HERE
In con as , VOX used ideos as i s main mul imedia ool in nea ly 37 pe cen o i s
wee s, hus being he pa y ha pu mul imedia esou ces o a mos balanced use, in
addi ion o gi ing less impo ance o images han he es o he pa ies. Be ha as i may,
all he pa ies included a la ge a ie y o mul imedia esou ces in hei wee s.
Table 3 shows he equency wi h which hash ags we e used pe wee ,
highligh ing ye again he gap be ween he le -wing pa ies and he adical igh -wing
VOX. The PACMA, RC-GV and he PCPE p edominan ly used be ween wo and i e
hash ags, ollowed by one hash ag pe wee —a ca ego y in which PACMA animalis s
s ood ou , wi h 31.8 pe cen o i s messages con aining one hash ag. On he o he hand,
mo e han 20 RC-GV wee s ell in o he ‘mo e han i e’ hash ag ca ego y, which poin s
o an in ensi e use o his in e ac i e esou ce.
TABLE 3 HERE
VOX was diame ically opposed o he o he in ha i did no use any hash ags in mo e
han hal o i s wee s. No wi hs anding his unde use, i employed a hash ag in 27 pe
cen o i s messages. Conside ing he o als, he ‘be ween wo and i e’ hash ags-pe -
wee ca ego y was in any e en he mos equen ly employed, an aspec exempli ied by
20
a pos by he Ma xis PCPE on 12 Ap il, which con ained ou hash ags e incing i s
ideological slan : #PCPE, #RepúblicaSocialis a (#Socialis Republic), #14Ab il—14
Ap il being he day when he Spanish Second Republic was p oclaimed in 1931—and
#Au ode e minación (#Sel -de e mina ion) (PCPE, 2019a).
I espec i e o ideological slan s, mino -pa y communica ion did indeed coincide
in he opics add essed. As Table 4 shows, he opic ha was by a he mos equen ly
add essed was “campaign and poli ical pa ies”, accoun ing o nea ly o mo e han 50
pe cen o he messages—in descending o de , VOX (68.83 pe cen ), he PCPE (60 pe
cen ), he PACMA (55 pe cen ), and RC-GV (49.04 pe cen ). This implies ha mo e
han 60 pe cen o he o al numbe o mino -pa y pos s we e de o ed o he campaign,
o o hemsel es. Such a sel - e e en iali y can be clea ly seen in he ollowing VOX wee
(Image 3), wi h in o ma ion on he closing ally o he campaign and a pho o o pa y
leade Abascal:
IMAGE 3 HERE
In compa ison wi h “campaign and poli ical pa ies” all he o he opics we e seconda y,
i no ma ginal, and whe he o no hey we e add essed depended o a g ea ex en on he
ideology o each pa y. The PACMA alked abou “animal igh s” and “en i onmen ”,
while p o-public sec o RC-GV ocused on issues such as “economy and business”,
“cul u e”, and “wa and con lic s”. Only VOX di e ed in his espec , add essing a lo o
opics, besides issues associa ed wi h i s ha d- igh p inciples, including “Spain”, “non-
Spanish na ionalism”, “economy and business”, and “immig a ion”. I is wo h no ing
ha VOX was he only pa y o b oach he subjec o eligion, in addi ion o he
conside able numbe o wee s (39) ha i de o ed o c i icising he media, in keeping
wi h he a i ude o o he igh -wing populis poli icians like Donald T ump in he US and
Jai Bolsona o in B azil.
21
TABLE 4 HERE
The e we e also ce ain simila i ies in he unc ions pe o med by he wee s (Table 5). In
cohe ence wi h he opics a iable, “campaign” was he mos epea ed unc ion,
accoun ing o o e 50 pe cen o he o al numbe o pos s by he PCPE, VOX and he
PACMA, and o a lesse ex en RC-GV (33.33 pe cen ). The “campaign” unc ion was
exempli ied by a wee pos ed by he PCPE on 13 Ap il which, as well as appealing o
“ he s eng h o wo ke s”, included a link o he pa y’s elec o al p og amme (PCPE,
2019b). The endency owa ds e e ing o he campaign was accompanied by o he
unc ions ha , albei o a lesse ex en , had o e laps in he di e en pa ies. This was he
case wi h “posi ion aking” on issues, an aspec p esen in he wee s o all pa ies—
especially in he 80 pos s de o ed o his unc ion by RC-GV—and he “a ack o he ”
unc ion, as ega ds which VOX s ood ou wi h 68 wee s. Simila ly, he “media” unc ion
was also p e alen —wi h wee s whe e ollowe s we e in o med abou he appea ances
o candida es in he media—in he campaigns o VOX and he PACMA—no o no hing
he wo pa ies wi h he bes elec o al p ospec s. The quan i a i e i ele ance o pe sonal
issues and, by ex ension, he pe sonaliza ion o poli ics, is also ema kable.
TABLE 5 HERE
Discussion and Conclusions
The In e ne and SNSs p o ide mino pa ies wi h communica ion channels ha ac as a
coun e balance o media co e age ocusing on majo leade s in ol ed in he “ho se ace”
and he s uggle o o ice. Owing o he di icul ies aced by mino pa ies when
a emp ing o ca e ou a niche o hemsel es on he poli ical agenda (Zunino and O iz
Ma ín, 2017), hey end o eso o SNSs like Twi e . In his ega d, we p oceed o
discuss he implica ions o ou indings on Spanish mino pa ies’ Twi e beha iou , and
22
ela ing hem o exis ing knowledge on mino -pa y communica ion and he
no maliza ion hypo hesis.
Ou s udy suppo s he idea ha SNSs ha e been adop ed “by smalle pa ies wi h
budge s o ma ch, which ha e seen in he Web a way o s aying in con ac wi h hei
ollowe s, while a emp ing o engage new segmen s o socie y” (La uen e Pé ez and
Ve ón Lassa, 2013: 541-542). In his espec , he case o RC-GV is ai ly e iden , since
i was he mino pa y ha pos ed he la ges numbe o wee s, a e VOX, and, a he
same ime, he kind o small pa y ha is igno ed by he mains eam media—as indica ed
by Sanjuán San onja’s s udy (2015), in which RC-GV was he only pa y, among hose
analyzed, ha did no appea in adi ional media.
On he o he hand, ideology seems o be a disc imina ing ac o ega ding SNS
ac i i y, inasmuch as ul a- igh is VOX pos ed many mo e wee s han he es o mino
pa ies, which can be de ined as being o he le o adical le o he poli ical spec um.
VOX’s abundan ac i i y on Twi e is in consonance wi h Gibson and McAllis e ’s hesis
(2015) ha he ex eme igh pu s he In e ne o a conside able use. A he same ime,
his implies a disconce ing conclusion pe aining o he Spanish con ex , whe e Twi e
use s end o be young and ideologically le wing (Congos o, 2015). This may indica e
ha Spanish p og essi e mino pa ies a e no making su icien e o s on he Web in
compa ison wi h hei igh -wing i als. Fu he mo e, he o e whelming supe io i y o
VOX pe aining o pos ing equency in ela ion o he o he mino pa ies in 2019, sheds
ligh on he ac ha he communica ion o his adical pa y, is cha ac e ized by he
epudia ion o adi ional media, wi h he a gumen ha hey do no epo on i s p oposals
and ideas wi h eliabili y, bu in a pa ial o adul e a ed manne (Ga cía He e o, 2019).
Thus, VOX’s sys ema ic use o SNSs does no only ha e o do wi h he lack o co e age
gi en by adi ional media o mino pa ies, bu a he wi h a di ec con on a ion wi h
23
hem (Abuín-Vences and Ga cía-Rosales, 2020)—a s a egy clea ly inspi ed by T ump’s.
In his ega d, i is in e es ing o ela e VOX and T ump’s communica ion simila i ies o
he links exis ing bee ween o me T ump s a egis S e e Bannon and VOX’s Na ional
Execu i e Commi ee membe Ra ael Ba jadí (Fe ei a, 2019; Alad o Vico and Requeijo
Rey, 2020; Ga cía-Sanjuan, 2020), who sha e he aim o an Eu opean populis igh -wing
mo emen —acco ding o Woe z and Sole I Lecha (2020: 13), “The mas e mind o
VOX’s in e na ional ou each p og amme, Ba dají, is he di ec o o he F iends o Is ael
Ini ia i e and has aligned his pa y wi h o me T ump ad iso Bannon’s e o s o c ea e
a pan-Eu opean igh -wing populis pla o m”. Hence simila i ies ega ding
communica ion s a egies ha e been highligh ed, om VOX’s use o a T ump-inspi ed
poli ical inco ec ness (Ál a ez-Bena ides and Jiménez Aguila , 2020) o he
p opagandis ic use o he na ionalis -medie al pas (Ga cía-Sanjuan, 2020) o di e en
SNS s a egies pe aining o bo h o m and message con en (Alad o Vico and Requeijo
Rey, 2020).
Ou second esea ch ques ion ela ed o he communica ion unc ions o mino
pa ies. The “campaign” unc ion was he mos ele an , which is in line wi h esea ch
conduc ed by Abuín-Vences and Ga cía Rosales, highligh ing ha VOX’s wee s end o
ex ol “i s con ening powe in campaign allies and seek o show how close i s leade s a e
o he elec o a e” (2020: 9). Also in keeping wi h p e ious s udies o Spanish pa ies,
mino o ganiza ions eso o Twi e o enhance hei campaigns, as i i we e a adi ional
media ou le (Ramos-Se ano, Fe nández Gómez and Pineda, 2018). So, i could be
claimed ha he 2019 campaigns o Spanish mino pa ies we e a case o
“me acampaigning, ha is, communica ions abou he s a e o he campaign” (Jensen and
Ans ead, 2014: 61), which can be ela ed o a e ical and monological communica ion
app oach. Thus, mino pa ies no only ha dly in e ac ed wi h use s—as e idenced by he
24
i ele ance o he @ eplies, o VOX’s scan use o hash ags—bu hey also dedica ed
mos o hei wee s o hemsel es and hei own ac i i ies. This coincides wi h he
scep icism shown in p e ious s udies o Spanish SNS poli ical communica ion (Abejón,
Sas e and Lina es, 2012; Ramos-Se ano, Fe nández Gómez and Pineda, 2018), which
sugges ha social si es a e unde used ools ha epea a one-way b oadcas ing model,
ins ead o exploi ing he possibili ies o in e ac i i y (Junghe , 2016). Typologically
speaking, he in ensi e use o e wee s by VOX is also cohe en wi h p e ious esea ch
claiming ha his pa y implemen s a SNS s a egy aimed a he dissemina ion and
esending o messages (Ga cía He e o, 2019). A any a e, and beyond me acampaigning
and one-way communica ion, i is impo an o no e o he esul s ela ing o
communica ion unc ions, such as he impo ance o he “a ack o he ” ca ego y, as well
as he i ele ance o he pe sonaliza ion o poli ics. This las aspec con adic s Sanjuán
San onja’s s udy (2015), which poin s ou ha adi ional media in o ma ion on mino
pa ies ends o e ol e a ound on - unne s, which may indica e ha he media s a egy
o hese pa ies di e s in he digi al en i onmen in ce ain aspec s. In any case, he ac
o ha ing analyzed he Twi e p o iles o he pa ies a he han hose o he p esiden ial
candida es, migh ha e some hing o do wi h he lack o ocus on pe sonal ac o s.
I is he campaign opics a iable ha mos clea ly e inces he endency o mino
pa ies o pu SNSs o a con inuis use―an issue ela ing o ou hi d esea ch ques ion.
Pa o he li e a u e conside s ha hi d pa ies discuss issues di e ing om hose o
majo pa ies (E ans e al., 2019), which o en iola e he ules o poli ical discou se
(Ne ille-Shepa d, 2014b), and which place he accen on ideological p inciples (Ne ille-
Shepa d, 2014b). Ou indings a e a long way om co obo a ing hese assump ions. In
ac , he opic mos equen ly aised by all pa ies was “campaign and poli ical pa ies”,
which sugges s a deep-sea ed and sel - e e en ial use o Twi e . In iew o he ac ha
31
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i
Al hough VOX is widely ega ded by he Spanish media and le -wing poli icians as an “ex eme igh ”
pa y, i should be labeled as a “ adical igh ” pa y. As poin ed ou by di e en au ho s, he e a e di e ences
wi hin he a igh poli ical amily, be ween he ex eme igh , which ejec s he whole democ a ic sys em
and aims o impose dic a o ships o o he ypes o au ho i a ian egimes; and he adical igh , which ejec s
some aspec s o libe al-democ a ic sys ems, bu accep s democ a ic ules and ee elec ions. Radical igh
pa ies oppose some key ea u es o libe al democ acies, like he cons i u ional p o ec ion o mino i ies, bu
hey a e nominally democ a ic, whe eas he ex eme igh is essen ially an idemoc a ic. Addi ionally,
ex eme igh g oups and mo emen s a e willing o use iolen di ec ac ion, whe eas he adical igh
compe e h ough con en ional elec o al channels, and disown he adop ion o iolen ac ics (No is, 2005;
Mudde, 2007; Fe ei a, 2019). In hese e ms, VOX should be classi ied as a adical igh pa y, ins ead o
an ex eme igh pa y.
