Digital narratives of the major political parties of Spain, France, Portugal and the United States

Abstract

The digital narratives employed by political parties in Spain, France, Portugal, and the United States are analyzed with particular attention paid to transmedia. We perform a content analysis of the parties´ webpages and online platforms, and the messages referenced therein, and survey the organizations´ online communication directors. The results show that, instead of adapting messages to specific platforms, political parties tend to disseminate overlapping content, publish the same messages on multiple platforms, and underutilize mobile strategies in political communication. The data show Spanish political parties to be at the forefront of innovation in narratives, as seen in their search for narratives created by non-partisan citizens and their commitment to innovation in transmedia and 360º video narratives.