• comunicazione politica
• covid-19
• emergenza sanitaria
• fake news
• lockdown

This paper was created with the aim of analyzing the strategies adopted in the use of social media in political communication during the Covid-19 pandemic. This discipline has always been an integral part of political action, but its forms over time and within each social system have been multiple. The advent of mass media such as television, radio and newspapers, all the way to the Internet, has revolutionized the communication tools of political actors and even their communication style. The 2020 represented a year of incredible changes that took place in a short period of time like never before. Indeed, the world was faced with an unprecedented challenge for which it was not possible to be sufficiently prepared. The pandemic has undermined not only individual certainties, but also rules in the economy, politics and, inevitably, in the mechanisms of public opinion formation. In this time of emergency, the news has shown how wrong or inadequate communication strategies have severely affected the bond of trust that binds citizens to political actors. The Internet and Social Networks have radically changed the use of information and have proven to be a key element in the circulation of informations. The spread of the Coronavirus epidemic and the rise of conspiracy theories have exacerbated the negative effects of the information scenario, encouraging the circulation of an excessive amount of fake news, especially on social networks. The dissemination of information and creation of reliable content by the most followed personalities on Social Networks seems to be the only weapon against disinformation, for which political figures play an extremely responsible role. In a crisis situation it is crucial to communicate clearly and consistently, because in all such moments the role of leaders and institutions is predominant. Therefore, crisis communication is not just about communicating the existence of a crisis and actions to contain it: it requires effective relationships throughout the system because every link in the chain needs to feel supported, informed, and prepared.
The paper focus on the Italian case, one of the most countries most affected by the pandemic crisis. The Facebook pages of four party leaders in the March 2020 period will be analyzed. The digital communication of Giorgia Meloni (Fratelli d'Italia), Matteo Salvini (Lega), Matteo Renzi (Italia Viva) and Silvio Berlusconi (Forza Italia). The analysis uses both a quantitative and qualitative method, comparing the points of convergence and differences between the communication strategies of the four leaders belonging to different parties. The starting question motivating this thesis is: how much and in what ways did the four party leaders choose to address the issue of Covid-19 on their Facebook pages?