Participation and Social Networks: the Use of Facebook in Times of Covid-19 in an Intermediate City

Abstract

The objective of the paper is to know the predominant modes and uses of the social network Facebook by socio-political organizations in intermediate cities, such as Río Cuarto, Argentina. Specifically, it seeks to show how the social organizations La Marcha de la Gorra and La Huella use, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, the social network Facebook to make their actions visible in the local public sphere and promote scenarios participatory.

Appealing to the specialized literature on social networks and based on a methodological convergence between digital ethnography and discourse analysis, the study investigates the Facebook pages belonging to each of the social organizations to reveal the topics considered important to publish, the social, political and institutional actors involved, the discursive strategies considered at the time of creating the content, and the participation of Internet users in the messages received.

The results of the study show uneven use of the social network Facebook by the organizations La Huella and La Marcha de la Gorra during the Covid-19 pandemic. With a varied participation of Internet users before the messages received and with a marked difference in the discursive formulation.