Twitter as public sphere: how were the presidential candidates described during the debates in the presidential election's second round in 2014?

Abstract:

The following paper discusses how Twitter, as a public sphere, reproduces discourses that describe the presidential candidates Aécio Neves (PSDB) and Dilma Rousseff (PT) during the three presidential debates in the second round of the Brazilian elections of 2014. We use contingency analysis and social network analysis in order to discuss the data gathered from Twitter API. Our results point to negative descriptions of both candidates, mostly focusing on Rousseff. While Neves was criticized for this performance during the debates, Rousseff was mostly criticized for her body and physical aspect, followed by her intellectual capacity, and finally, for her performance. Thus, the results indicate a gender bias in the derogatory comments and prejudice against women in Rousseff's case.

Keywords:
Offense; discourse; Twitter; elections; descriptions