Election Campaigns in Times of Social Network Communication: An Italian Case Study

The last Italian political elections have marked a turning point in Italian politics. They have been characterized by a populistic, digital campaign that imposed new narratives, leaders and issues. “Traditional” parties struggled to gain visibility in the new digital arena just as much as they struggled to maintain their votes, let alone gain new ones. This paper will analyze in depth the rhetorical strategies and the main issues targeted by both winners and losers in the perspective of how the digital arena has affected the selection of political leaders and agendas.