https://doi.org/10.1140/epjds/s13688-024-00502-0
Research
Visual political communication on Instagram: a comparative study of Brazilian presidential elections
1
Digital Media and Society Observatory (DMSO), Federal University of Sao Paulo (Unifesp), Av. Cesare Monsueto Giulio Lattes, 1201 - Eugênio de Melo, 12247-014, São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil
2
Department of Media, Communications, Creative Arts, Language, and Literature (MCCALL), Macquarie University, 25 Wally’s Walk, Macquarie Park, 2109, Sydney, NSW, Australia
3
Department of Communication, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), Jakob-Welder-Weg 12, 55199, Mainz, Germany
4
Centre for Research in Applied Communication, Culture, and New Technologies (CICANT), Lusófona University, Campo Grande 376, 1749-024, Lisboa, Portugal
Received:
4
April
2024
Accepted:
16
October
2024
Published online:
26
November
2024
In today’s digital age, images have become powerful tools for politicians to engage with their voters on social media platforms. Visual content possesses a unique emotional appeal that often leads to increased user engagement. However, research on visual communication remains relatively limited, particularly in the Global South. This study aims to bridge this gap by employing a combination of computational methods and qualitative approach to investigate the visual communication strategies employed in a dataset of 11,263 Instagram posts by 19 Brazilian presidential candidates in 2018 and 2022 national elections. Through two studies, we observed consistent patterns across these candidates on their use of visual political communication. Notably, we identify a prevalence of celebratory and positively toned images. They also exhibit a strong sense of personalization, portraying candidates connected with their voters on a more emotional level. Our research also uncovers unique contextual nuances specific to the Brazilian political landscape. We note a substantial presence of screenshots from news websites and other social media platforms. Furthermore, text-edited images with portrayals emerge as a prominent feature. In light of these results, we engage in a discussion regarding the implications for the broader field of visual political communication. This article contributes by showing the ways Instagram was used in the digital political strategy of two fiercely polarized Brazilian elections, shedding light on the ever-evolving dynamics of visual political communication in the digital age. Finally, we propose avenues for future research in the field of political communication.
Key words: Visual communication / Political communication / Instagram / Computational methods / Computer vision / Machine learning / CNN / Google Vision / Latin America / Brazil
Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1140/epjds/s13688-024-00502-0.
© The Author(s) 2024
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