Abstract

GUERRERO-SIERRA, Hugo Fernando; NINO, César  and  WILCHES-TINJACA, Jaime Andrés. JAVIER MILEI, TIKTOK, AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE POLITICAL BOOR. anal.polit. [online]. 2024, vol.37, n.108, pp.74-102.  Epub Jan 13, 2025. ISSN 0121-4705.  https://doi.org/10.15446/anpol.v37n108.116953.

TikTok has redefined the dynamics of political engagement, amplifying the legitimacy of “outsider” politicians like Javier Milei. This article examines how TikTok contributes to the construction of the image of the “political boor,” using the case study of Milei. Three hundred communication pieces from six TikTok accounts were analyzed: Milei’s official account and the five with the highest number of followers that feature him as a central figure. The method of correlational audience analysis and visual framing was employed. The results demonstrate that the “political boor” is strengthened in two aspects: hyper-personalization and legitimization with post-truth narratives by TikTok users that challenge state institutions. The conclusion is that Milei uses the multimedia advantages of TikTok to strengthen his image and allow the virilization of content through discourse in which primal emotions and absence of political debate predominate. This study is a contribution to the literature on the impact of TikTok on contemporary democracy and proposes categories to analyze the proliferation of the “political boor” in post-truth discourse as a central problem for contemporary democracies.

Keywords : political boor; Milei; social media; post-truth; values; TikTok; democracy.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )