How did the government’s first month go (on social media)? Boom of Meloni, Salvini in decline and Calenda the most active – Corriere.it

How did the first month of the Meloni government go (on social media)? The profiles of the premier, who has revised the tone with respect to the role of radical opponent, has collected a boom in new followers: over 600,000 more between Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, also because now she has the burden of speaking to everyone Italians and not only to right-wing sympathizers. The transition “from the protest to the proposal” in this initial phase is rewarding the premier, in line with
the record approval of his party (Brothers of Italy) which reached 31.4% in the polls
. Things are going decidedly differently for Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, whose interactions on social media are following the downward spiral that crystallized at the polls on September 25, when the League collected 8.8%, a drop compared to 34.3% of the 2019 Europeans.

DeRev, a digital strategy company, analyzed the trend of the virtual approval of the seven main party leaders, taking a photo of the first month of the new executive. In addition to the focus on FdI and Carroccio, lhyperactivity of Carlo Calenda, secretary of Action,

who is perceived as the most present exponent of the opposition thanks to an unparalleled barrage:

1,262 posts were published on various social networks between 23 October and 1 December.

«Meloni’s is a physiological parable – explains the CEO of DeRev, Roberto Esposito —, but not obvious in its simplicity. The premier has a slice of loyalists accustomed to very different tones, the risk of displeasing them was strong and it is a danger that will remain perpetually around the corner. Meanwhile, you are the only one to have inaugurated a post-vote format, which allows you to keep the dialogue alive with users, not only to inform them, but also to get feedback and study what the belly of the country is sending back ».

Regard Matthew Salvini, who despite firmly holding the absolute record of followers (9.5 million adding up all social networks, while Meloni stops at 6.5 million), a positive picture does not emerge from DeRev’s in-depth monitoring: «Since he assumed the role of Minister of Infrastructure – reads the study – the leader of the League in fact, it is essentially static on Twitter and Facebook and declining in terms of number of followers and engagement on Instagram. His communicative style now appears outdated».

While Stilvio Berlusconi, on social media, inserts himself «in a balanced way, with a very low average of daily publications (0.87%),
but which, thanks to the careful choice of content and tone of voice,
it allows him a stable albeit minimal growth of followers». A result that the leader of Forza Italia goes hand in hand with “the construction of a character who stands as the noble father of this government”, projected into the role of mediator between the other majority leaders.

The monitoring judgment is negative for Enrico Letta, who after the disappointing electoral result announced his farewell to the secretariat of the Democratic Party. On Facebook, he is last among party leaders, with just 151,000 followers. While the “engagement” index, the parameter that measures the ability to involve followers, has further decreased.

An objective that, on the other hand, appears to have been achieved by Charles Calenda, who increased the “engagement” index (average of interactions) most of all (4.7%) by exploiting his profile as an opponent of the government, but harshly and constantly criticizing the Democratic Party, with the aim of eroding consensus in the his former party.

DeRev’s study finally defines the profile of Giuseppe Conte is “fogged”.. «Since the vote, despite his oppositional attitude, the leader of the M5S has however continued to record a small but constant hemorrhage of followers (-8,945 on Instagram and -4,587 on Facebook in the reference period) – reads the analysis of the digital strategy company – which is an indicator of how its communication has lost its incisiveness and effectiveness, especially on mainstream social media».