IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jscscx/v14y2025i5p255-d1640247.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

From Emotion to Virality: The Use of Social Media in the Populism of Chega and VOX

Author

Listed:
  • Ricardo Domínguez-García

    (Faculty of Communication, University of Seville, 41004 Sevilla, Spain)

  • João Pedro Baptista

    (Department of Letters, Arts and Communication, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, 5000 Vila Real, Portugal
    The Centre for Research in Applied Communication, Culture, and New Technologies, Lusófona University, 1749 Lisbon, Portugal)

  • Concha Pérez-Curiel

    (Faculty of Communication, University of Seville, 41004 Sevilla, Spain)

  • Daniela Esperança Monteiro da Fonseca

    (Department of Letters, Arts and Communication, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, 5000 Vila Real, Portugal)

Abstract

This study analyses the digital communication strategies of the radical right parties VOX (Spain) and Chega (Portugal) on the social media platforms X, Instagram, and TikTok during the electoral periods. Using a comparative content analysis with quantitative and qualitative approaches, the research reveals that both parties employ a populist discourse marked by confrontation with the political elite and the use of emotional appeals to mobilize their followers. VOX directs its attacks at the left and the Spanish Prime Minister, while Chega emphasizes criticism of the political system as a whole. The results show that polarization and the evocation of emotions such as indignation, pride, and hope are central strategies in their posts. Furthermore, messages with strong emotional charge and audiovisual elements generate a greater impact, especially on TikTok and Instagram, where virality is significantly higher than on X. The study concludes that the communication strategies of these parties are based on ‘data populism’, where interaction and visibility on social media reinforce their political narratives and consolidate their base of support.

Suggested Citation

  • Ricardo Domínguez-García & João Pedro Baptista & Concha Pérez-Curiel & Daniela Esperança Monteiro da Fonseca, 2025. "From Emotion to Virality: The Use of Social Media in the Populism of Chega and VOX," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-15, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:14:y:2025:i:5:p:255-:d:1640247
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/5/255/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/5/255/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:14:y:2025:i:5:p:255-:d:1640247. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.