Gustavo Petro and Rodolfo Hernández on Twitter; Analysis of the presence and feelings in the second round of the presidential elections in Colombia 2022

Gustavo Petro y Rodolfo Hernández en Twitter; Análisis de la presencia y sentimientos en la segunda vuelta de las elecciones presidenciales de Colombia 2022

In recent decades, political communication on social media has facilitated dialogue between public office candidates and their audiences. This has strengthened the spaces for influencing opinion in electoral campaigns. With the objective of describing the communicative actions on Twitter during the elections for president of the Republic of Colombia in the period 2022-2026, this research analyzes the presence and feelings of the publications of the candidates in the second round Gustavo Petro and Rodolfo Hernández. To do this, their messages were observed in the three weeks prior to the presidential election from a quantitative methodology: Presence was sized by evaluating the publication indicators and feelings by coding their predominant patterns. The findings reveal substantial differences in the candidates' activity and use of interactive resources despite the similarities in the tone of their messages. The analysis carried out strengthens the idea that politicians consider the communicative value of Twitter despite using it as a unidirectional medium.