Where does the information circulating in Bolsonarist groups on WhatsApp come from

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.19132/1807-8583202253.123603

Keywords:

information sources, WhatsApp, YouTube, bolsonarism

Abstract

The present article aims to understand the informational paths present in Bolsonarist groups on WhatsApp on two levels. First, we characterize the sources of information mobilized and what the prioritization of certain informational actors can mean in the political debate. Next, we conduct a specific analysis of YouTube as an informational source. Our results point to a minority role of traditional media as information sources. In addition, we identify a central role of the so-called influencers, which seems to point to a valorization of less institutionalized and more personal mediations of information. The analysis of the interaction between YouTube and WhatsApp revealed that the most shared YouTube links in Bolsonarist groups tend to: (1) have a higher number of likes; (2) be shared on WhatsApp as soon as they are published on YouTube; and (3) be taken offline (either by the users themselves or by the platforms) some time after being published.

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Author Biographies

Nina Santos, Federal University of Bahia

Pesquisadora associada do Centre d'Analyse et de Recherche Interdisciplinaires sur les Médias (Université Paris II) e coordenadora acadêmica do projeto Desinformante. Foi pesquisadora visitante no Center of Advanced Internet Research (CAIS - Alemanha, 2020) e no grupo Social Movements in the Global Age, na Université de Louvain-la-Neuve (SMAG - Bélgica, 2018). Sua tese de doutorado, defendida na Université Paris II, foi premiada com o Prix de thèse da instituição e indicada ao Prix de la Chancellerie des Universités de Paris. Autora de Twitter in the 2013 Brazilian Protests: A turning point in the communication environment (Palvrave MacMillan, no prelo).

Viktor Chagas, Fluminense Federal University

É membro associado do Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Democracia Digital (INCT.DD). Bolsista de Produtividade em Pesquisa PQ-2 do CNPq. Doutor em História, Política e Bens Culturais pelo Centro de Pesquisa e Documentação de História Contemporânea do Brasil da Fundação Getúlio Vargas (Cpdoc-FGV). É líder do grupo de pesquisa coLAB/UFF, coordenador do projeto de extensão #MUSEUdeMEMES, e organizador da coletânea "A Cultura dos Memes: aspectos sociológicos e dimensões políticas de um fenômeno do mundo digital" (Edufba, 2020).

Juliana Marinho, Federal University of Bahia

Foi bolsista de iniciação científica no Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Democracia Digital (INCT.DD) entre 2019 e 2021, onde participou de dois Congressos do Instituto, apresentação de trabalho no Intercom Júnior 2020 e publicação de artigo no e-Legis. Além disso, participou do Projeto HATE da Universidade de Lisboa enquanto codificadora da sessão brasileira.

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Published

2022-11-07

How to Cite

Santos, N., V. Chagas, and J. Marinho. “Where Does the Information Circulating in Bolsonarist Groups on WhatsApp Come from”. Intexto, no. 53, Nov. 2022, p. 123603, doi:10.19132/1807-8583202253.123603.

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Articles