FEMALE MAYORS WHO TWEET: A STUDY OF THE DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS OF SPANISH FEMALE MAYORS DURING ELECTORAL PERIODS

Authors

  • Karina Cáceres ADEN International Business School y Red de Politólogas

Abstract

More than 70% of the mayors of provincial capitals in Spain are men. Until the 2019 elections, in Spain there were only13 female mayors in provincial capitals: Ada Colau (Barcelona), Lara Méndez (Lugo), Concepción Gamarra (Logroño), Gema Igual (Santander), Milagros Tolón (Toledo), Clara Luquero (Segovia) and Amparo Marco Gual (Castellón), Emma Buj (Teruel), María del Pilar Zamora (Ciudad Real), María Elena Nevado (Cáceres), Manuela Carmena (Madrid), María Isabel Ambrosio (Córdoba) and Marta Madrenas (Girona). How do these mayors communicate on Twitter? Is there a feminist or gender-sensitive agenda in their communication? This paper analyses the use of Twitter of 13 female mayors during the last local election of 2019. Two main objectives guided this research: 1) to assess the communication style that female mayors use in their Twitter accounts, and 2) to identify their key communication issues and, if any, to what extent they publish content related to a feminist agenda or gender perspective.

Keywords:

Political Communication, Social Media, Gender, Women Mayors