Social and institutional presence of the Heads of Government of the Americas on Social Media

an analysis of the communication on Twitter about COVID-19

Authors

  • Lucas Dejard Moreira Mendonça UFPA
  • Adriano Madureira dos Santos Universidade Federal Do Pará
  • Harold Dias de Mello Junior Rio de Janeiro State University, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • Rita de Cássia Romeiro Paulino Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
  • Karla Figueiredo Rio de Janeiro State University, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • Fernando Augusto Ribeiro Costa Center for High Amazon Studies, Federal University of Pará, Belém, Pará, Brazil
  • Marcos César da Rocha Seruffo Federal University of Pará (UFPA), Belém, Pará, Brazil

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21728/logeion.2021v8n1.p104-129

Keywords:

Social Network Analysis, Twitter, Presidents of America, Social Presence, Populism, COVID-19

Abstract

This article examined the personal profiles of the Heads of Government of countries in South/North America and how they communicated with their audiences on institutional measures to contain COVID-19. Analyses were carried out on data collected from Twitter from November-2019 to November-2020. This study includes: i)quantitative analysis, measuring categories and emphases in the communication of tweets, retweets, likes, and comments on matters relevant to the pandemic; ii)qualitative analysis that allowed evaluating speeches to identify political interference and the effectiveness of communication at critical moments of the pandemic. It was possible to infer that each president has his singularities and understanding about Social Media’s use as a more direct communication tool with his audience. It was also found that successful communication is not directly proportional to the volume of messages on Twitter, but to socio-political aspects and institutional leadership that can make a difference in Social Media in combating COVID-19.

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Author Biographies

  • Adriano Madureira dos Santos, Universidade Federal Do Pará

    Graduating in Computer Engineering from the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), he currently contributes to research as a fellow of the Institutional Program for Scientific Initiation Scholarships (PIBIC), through the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPQ).

  • Harold Dias de Mello Junior, Rio de Janeiro State University, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Received the Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), respectively in 1999 and 2006, and the Doctoral degree in Electrical Engineering from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), in 2014. He is currently a professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ). His research interests are related to Computational Intelligence methods applied to decision support systems, pattern classification, time-series forecasting, control, optimization and Data Mining.

  • Rita de Cássia Romeiro Paulino, Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil

    Postdoctoral CNPq fellow – Brazil in Ryerson University – SocialMediaLab Toronto – Ca. Concluded his PhD in the Graduate Program in Engineering and Knowledge Management, by the Federal University of Santa Catarina in 2011. Works as Professor in the Graduate Program in Journalism (PPGJOR), professor of the Journalism course at the Federal University of Santa Catarina – Brazil. Develops research and projects in the areas of WebDesign, Multiplatform Interactive Content, PWA Applications (Progressive Web Apps), Social Network Analysis and Data Journalism, has professional experience as WebDesign Master. Published the books: Communication and Virtual Communities – Participation and Collaboration (2012), WebDesign Basics (2014) and organized: Journalism, society and pandemic (2020), Journalism for Tablets (2013), Research and Practice, Genres and formats in cyberjournalism (2019). Participates in the Applied Research Network Journalism and Digital Technologies/Jortec and participates in Nephi-Jor – Center for Studies and Production in Hypermedia applied to Journalism and the Research Group for Hypermedia and Language/CNPq.

  • Karla Figueiredo, Rio de Janeiro State University, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Received the BSc degree in Electrical Engineering from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brazil, MSc degree and the PhD degree in Computer Science from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Dr. Figueiredo is the Head of the Computational Intelligence and Robotics Laboratory (LIRA) developing more than 30 projects in computational intelligence. She is the author of 10 book chapters and more than 50 scientific papers in the area of soft computing and machine learning. She has supervised more than 20 PhD Thesis and MSc Dissertations. Her research interests are related to Computational Intelligence methods and applications, including Neural Networks, Fuzzy Logic, Hybrid Intelligent Systems, Robotics and Intelligent Agents, applied to decision support systems, pattern classification, time-series forecasting, natural language processing, control, optimization and Data Mining.

  • Fernando Augusto Ribeiro Costa, Center for High Amazon Studies, Federal University of Pará, Belém, Pará, Brazil

    Master’s student of the Graduate Program in Sustainable Development of the Wet Tropic of the Center for High Amazon Studies (PDTU/NAEA/UFPA). Specialist in Scientific Communication in the Amazon by the International Program for the Training of Specialists in Development of Amazonian Areas at the Center for High Amazon Studies (FIPAM/NAEA/UFPA). Bachelor in Tourism from the Federal University of Pará (UFPA). Degree in Geography from the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Pará (IFPA/Belém). Currently research on violence against the black population, from the perspective of the Necropolitics, in the Metropolitan Region of Belém and how this population articulates in the resistance to this violence.

  • Marcos César da Rocha Seruffo, Federal University of Pará (UFPA), Belém, Pará, Brazil

    Received the Technology’s degree in Data Processing from Universitary Center of the State of Para (CESUPA) in 2004, and the Master’s degree in Computer Science from the Federal University of Para in 2008, where he also received a Doctoral degree in Electrical Engineering with an emphasis in Applied Computing. Currently, He is associate professor level IV of Federal University of Para (UFPA). He is permanent Professor of Postgraduate Program in Anthropic Studies in the Amazon (PPGEAA), Collaborator Professor of Postgraduate Program in Electrical Engineering (PPGEE) and Collaborator Professor of Postgraduate Pro- gram in Computer Science (PPGCC). He is researcher from Operational Research Laboratory (LPO). Dr. Seruffo is the author of more than 80 scientific papers. His research interests are Computing science, Social Technologies, Digital TV, computer networks, access technologies and human-computer interaction. He is an Associate Member of the Brazilian Computer Society (SBC).

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13/09/2021

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Social and institutional presence of the Heads of Government of the Americas on Social Media: an analysis of the communication on Twitter about COVID-19. Logeion: Filosofia da Informação, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, v. 8, n. 1, p. 104–129, 2021. DOI: 10.21728/logeion.2021v8n1.p104-129. Disponível em: https://revista.ibict.br/fiinf/article/view/5805. Acesso em: 21 nov. 2024.