Winning against All Odds: Elly Schlein’s Successful Election Campaign and Instagram Communication Strategies

Abstract

The article aims to examine the characteristics of mediatized political communication in a hybrid media system, in which the social media accounts of political leaders play an increasingly important role. Firstly, the phenomenon of mediatization and its main aspects in relation to the mass media system are described. Subsequently, the concepts of disintermediation and new forms of mediation specific to social platforms are discussed. The analysis shows that disintermediation does not lead to the end of mediatization, but emphasizes the need to support the mass media logic based on the intertwining of entertainment and a social logic built on online content capable of triggering the creative potential of digital media. In particular, it is highlighted how politicians now prioritize social media over traditional media, assuming the role of social opinion leaders. The analysis of the posts published on the “ellyesse” Instagram account in the period from 4 December 2022, the date of the announced candidacy for the party secretary, to 26 February 2023, the day of the primaries in which he won against all odds, reveals a tendency towards the remediation of traditional content accompanied by innovative use of digital images, aimed at creating a sense of immediacy in interaction with the public. Furthermore, the use of codes typical of mass media mediatization is observed, but in a context where they change their meaning and assume a new communicative function. All these aspects reinforce the idea that social media, in a relationship of complementarity and interdependence with mass media, orient political communication towards the selection and repetition of a coherent set of identity traits.