Weekly Chart: How Latin American Leaders Use Social Media
Luisa Leme - June 02, 2017
Presidential tweets aren’t just a political force in the United States. Beyond President Donald Trump’s “covfefe” tweet, heads of state, ministries, government offices, and diplomats all over the world use social media to communicate with constituencies, exercise diplomacy, and win votes in elections.
Infographic: Spending Time on Social Media in the Americas
Because of that last effort, governments have also faced questions about their use of social media. Trump’s Twitter account—the most popular profile for a world leader after that of Pope Francis—saw an unusual spike in followers over the weekend, many of which appear to be artificial “bots.” In Mexico, there have been doubts about the number of President Enrique Peña Nieto’s followers on Twitter and how fake accounts known as “peñabots” affect political discourse in the twittersphere.
Weekly Chart: Where Latin Americans Are on Social Media
Holly K. Sonneland - November 02, 2017
In few regions of the world are people as innovative—and effective—in how they use social media as are Latin Americans. Ecuadorans ask their president for street repairs over Twitter. Peruvians make bank transactions via apps from the middle of the Andean highlands. Brazilians map shootings in favelas where the police have little to no presence. Venezuelans use social media to track down medicines as public information sources collapse. Mexicans use Periscope to hold litterers and parking space hogs accountable. The list goes on.