Publications

Papathanassopoulos, S., Karadimitriou, A., Souliotis, D., & Rousopoulos, V. (2025). Social Media Campaigning in Greece: The Case of the 2023 National Parliamentary Elections. Journalism and Media, 6(3), 142. https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia6030142

In contemporary democracies, social media platforms are widely used for political campaigning, with political figures seeking to connect with diverse segments of the public. This study aims to illuminate the implementation of online political campaigning in Greece by analysing the content shared on four social media platforms (Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok) by the leaders of the three principal political parties during the 2023 pre-election phase. We employ content analysis to evaluate primarily the textual and secondarily the visual elements of the posts (N = 1.222) found on the relevant accounts, using a coding framework that comprises 32 variables. The research draws on concepts pertinent to the platformised era, such as “virality,” “personalisation,” and “network media logic,” to highlight how contemporary politicians favour direct and easily comprehensible communication patterns with citizens. The results suggest that political leaders in Greece utilise social media as a means of emotionally mobilising voters. X and Facebook emerged as the primary platforms for distributing political messages, while Instagram and TikTok focused more on personalised and non-political content. The elements of personalisation were particularly prominent in the posts made by the leader of the Conservative Party (New Democracy), who demonstrated greater proficiency in utilising TikTok’s features.