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Recurrent Patterns of User Behavior in Different Electoral Campaigns: A Twitter Analysis of the Spanish General Elections of 2015 and 2016

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  • S. Martin-Gutierrez
  • J. C. Losada
  • R. M. Benito

Abstract

We have retrieved and analyzed several millions of Twitter messages corresponding to the Spanish general elections held on the 20th of December 2015 and repeated on the 26th of June 2016. The availability of data from two electoral campaigns that are very close in time allows us to compare collective behaviors of two analogous social systems with a similar context. By computing and analyzing the time series of daily activity, we have found a significant linear correlation between both elections. Additionally, we have revealed that the daily number of tweets, retweets, and mentions follow a power law with respect to the number of unique users that take part in the conversation. Furthermore, we have verified that the topologies of the networks of mentions and retweets do not change from one election to the other, indicating that their underlying dynamics are robust in the face of a change in social context. Hence, in the light of our results, there are several recurrent collective behavioral patterns that exhibit similar and consistent properties in different electoral campaigns.

Suggested Citation

  • S. Martin-Gutierrez & J. C. Losada & R. M. Benito, 2018. "Recurrent Patterns of User Behavior in Different Electoral Campaigns: A Twitter Analysis of the Spanish General Elections of 2015 and 2016," Complexity, Hindawi, vol. 2018, pages 1-15, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:hin:complx:2413481
    DOI: 10.1155/2018/2413481
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    1. Alejandro Llorente & Manuel Garcia-Herranz & Manuel Cebrian & Esteban Moro, 2015. "Social Media Fingerprints of Unemployment," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(5), pages 1-13, May.
    2. Borondo, J. & Morales, A.J. & Benito, R.M. & Losada, J.C., 2015. "Multiple leaders on a multilayer social media," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 90-98.
    3. Darko Cherepnalkoski & Andreas Karpf & Igor Mozetič & Miha Grčar, 2016. "Cohesion and Coalition Formation in the European Parliament: Roll-Call Votes and Twitter Activities," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(11), pages 1-27, November.
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    1. Martin-Gutierrez, Samuel & Losada, Juan C. & Benito, Rosa M., 2023. "Multipolar social systems: Measuring polarization beyond dichotomous contexts," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    2. Rogerio Olimpio da Silva & Juan Carlos Losada & Javier Borondo, 2023. "Analyzing the Emotions That News Agencies Express towards Candidates during Electoral Campaigns: 2018 Brazilian Presidential Election as a Case of Study," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-19, August.

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