The Importance of Social Media for Political Outsiders — Between Disintermediation and Media Hybridism

Abstract

The research that supports this article sought to ascertain the importance of social media for
the three newest political parties to obtain parliamentary seats for the fi rst time in Portugal, a phenomenon that occurred as a result of the outcome of the 2019 legislative elections and after
which the country observes a political culture marked by greater parliamentary fragmentation.
It was also intended to ascertain the possible presence of principles and practices aligned
with the theory and practice of public relations in these parties’ perspective on digital communication. To accomplish this undertaking, semi-structured interviews were conducted
with the communication advisors of the three parties in question — Chega, Iniciativa Liberal
and Livre —, with the data collected subjected to qualitative content analysis. In addition, the
publications of the offi cial pages of these parties on the social network Facebook during the
period of the electoral campaign preceding the 2019 legislative elections, from September
22th to October 4th, were analyzed under a quantitative framework. The fi ndings of this study
show that the political parties in question see digital platforms as a priority in communicating
with the electorate, with the dual function of serving as a substitute for traditional media
communication or as a bridge to obtaining that same media coverage.