PSOL versus PSOL: Factions, parties and digital media

Abstract

This paper investigates the challenges posed by social media to the directive head of the parties to define the majority discourse. The hypothesis is that in a context of party fragmentation, social media offer opportunities for internal currents to vocalize dissatisfactions and to publicly negotiate their agendas publicly, which generates external noise and hinders consensus. The case study focuses on the coalition negotiations among PSOL factions, PT, PCdoB and Rede for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro City Hall election. This study has collected public data by querying the Facebook Graph API, searching fan pages of leaders, directories, factions and local representations. The sample is composed of 189 pages, from which 54 are connected to PSOL organization and 10 factions. The findings indicate the structural distance between the communicative subsystems organized around PSOL and PT / PCdoB, with separate clusters on Facebook and a strong public discussion about the composition of the electoral alliance.