Politics and Social Media: Reaction to the presidential debates during the Peruvian electoral campaign according to Twitter

Abstract

[EN] This research explores sentiments of live-tweeting during the first 2021 Peruvian Presidential debate. We focus on citizens¿ social media engagement during political debates, because this may have the potential to affect opinion formation about candidates, as well as to encourage (or discourage) election participation. To reach this goal, we explored the contents of the tweets posted during the Peruvian Presidential debate with sentiment analysis techniques and then categorized them into as reflecting positive or negative feelings. Results show a different pattern in each of the three days of the Peruvian Presidential debate. Findings suggest that by means of analyzing social media data, there is a chance to better understand citizen¿s reactions and opinions in Peru regarding a political highlight, such as a presidential election.