François Fillon's campaign continuity offers a rather fine opportunity to dive into activists' information bubbles. This article shows that the most committed activists do not consume information uniformly: the framing, the website and the interpretation are entirely different. A short dive with Visibrain into bubbles that are not necessarily the windows through which to understand everyone's positions.
I. Summary
Each to their own media, each to their own information framing
There are indeed information bubbles among the biggest activists of each candidate. Libération for Mélenchon, 24matin for Macron, Sputnik for Marine Le Pen and Le Figaro for Fillon. (Radio silence from Hamon, so no article...)
These domains are not just newspaper branding, they are a framing of the information. So we have access to the same facts, but not to the same framing or interpretation of the information. In the case of the far right, the information is not only “framed” or interpreted differently, it is put in context by other pieces of information or other frames of thought. Information about the problems of other candidates who represent the system supports the broader belief that all this is a targeted cabal. (Find the most tweeted articles in part III.)
This framing is also found in the expressions and hashtags chosen by the various candidates, the analysis of which is provided in part III.
The positioning of the various activists is also particularly identifiable and sometimes revealing of the different strategies:
- Macron's troops do not overdo it, they simply rejoice at the apples falling on the other side of the wall.
- Radio silence on Hamon's side, where activists merely regret that this overshadows his statement and his positions.
- On Mélenchon's side, the ridiculousness of the situation is highlighted without any overly official statement.
- On the right, Le Pen is careful not to criticise Fillon because of his legal troubles. The communication is therefore played rather cleverly to take advantage of the windfall of criticising a judicial system in the pay of the Socialists. So they endorse the substance while taking care not to criticise the form en masse. Just to remind everyone all the same that Fillon is an opponent.
- On Fillon's side, the web presence is an after-sales service. The press conference served to overshadow the news of the formal investigation and to provide an overall key to interpretation. The web is used to recall the “manhunt” angle.
So, this time taking all the conversations together, we get a crowd polarised between pro-Fillon and Le Pen supporters on the one hand, and the rest on the other.
II. Methodology
To carry out this article, I first produced a gigantic mapping of the 10M tweets between January 2017 and 15 February 2017 covering all tweets around the presidential election. (Candidate names, slogans, handles, generic hashtags, etc.)
This allowed me to isolate the communities of the various candidates and to draw up a list of the 1,000 most influential activists (most mentions/retweets) in each category. I applied a rough filter to remove journalists and media from each community. These lists are based only on mentions/retweets. Someone can therefore be part of the Mélenchon community without being a Mélenchon supporter, but retweeted very often by pro-Mélenchon accounts. One of the best examples is that Paris 8 University ends up in the fachosphere, because it never tweets about the presidential election, but it was mentioned by this community because of a news item involving Hamon, denounced by the far right. I did try to filter most of these cases manually, but some may remain.
Furthermore, in the top tweets of the different communities, a tweet may appear because it is retweeted by activists without its author being an activist of that category. (This is particularly the case for Mélenchon supporters)
Once these communities were put into a panel, I queried the panel using the mention “Fillon” over the last 24 hours.
III. Detail by activist group
With Benoit Hamon
With Benoit Hamon, there is complete silence on the Fillon affair. The only mentions that morning are those that make Benoit Hamon's proposals seem totally inaudible given the background noise:
Hard to get heard on public services this morning for @benoithamon #fillon pic.twitter.com/QM1slvm41L
- Lucas Zajdela (@lucas_zajdela) March 1, 2017
Hello #Fillon! Or #Baroin or #Juppé, we no longer know, anyway, we are campaigning! #Hamon2017 https://t.co/SpUls4OSOT
- Lorenzo Salvador🇺🇦🇪🇺🌹🌻 (@lorenzosalvador) March 1, 2017
With Mélenchon
With Jean-Luc Mélenchon, conversations are anchored mainly around the hashtags FillonGate, #Penelopegate and #FillonDegage. In the tweets, it is the “political assassination” and the formal investigation that emerge, whereas in the top tweets it is not so much the activists who stand out, but the various jokes and other skeletons in Fillon's closet coming from accounts critical of him (and therefore not pro-Mélenchon activists):
When @canardenchaine receives death threats!
“Last warning, there will be no survivors!” #Fillon #Lepen pic.twitter.com/HbxdNSpaQ2- Et ça continue…🔎 (@zoomabus) March 1, 2017
https://twitter.com/nrenard75/status/836872755169673216
Should the justice system observe a truce during the presidential campaign? (By Man) #Fillon #LePen pic.twitter.com/DshdYZk0X9
- Ornikkar™ 🥤 (@ornikkar) March 1, 2017
https://twitter.com/tropical_boy/status/836903493583716352
In the domains, Libération emerges:
Whereas in the top tweets, Fillon is clearly attacked:
With Marine Le Pen
On Marine Le Pen's side, even though #Fillonenprison and #penelopegate rank high in the top hashtags, it is Macron who mostly stands out. The Fillongate affair is supposedly just a plan by the system (see the expression “objectif du système” in the top list) aimed at putting Macron ahead. The expressions bring out more of an “instrumentalisation of the justice system”. In the top tweets, meanwhile, it is a particularly interesting balancing act: even though on substance they support Fillon, a candidate attacked by the “system” and by the “instrumentalisation of the justice system”, they attack the form, the only hook they managed to bring out. Finally, this communication strategy comes, and it is rare enough within the Front National to be worth noting, from the top down, meaning that it is FN politicians who speak and who emerge from the conversations.
Cancelling the Salon de l'agriculture for PR?? #Fillon
- Florian Philippot (@f_philippot) March 1, 2017
It is downright scandalous, this justice system at the beck and call of those in power, to bring down #Fillon and #MarineLePen 😡#ONLR! pic.twitter.com/bPndlhb2rG
- fandetv ن 🇮🇱🇷🇺🇫🇷 (@fandetv) March 1, 2017
I am obviously not in favour of #Fillon but the relentlessness of the justice system and the media strangely spares the Left. Undemocratic.
- L'homme invisibilisé (@gregoryroose) March 1, 2017
“We must challenge the excesses of a politicised justice system, in particular within the Syndicat de la magistrature.”@BFMTV #Fillon
- Nicolas Bay (@NicolasBay_) March 1, 2017
Apparently, #Fillon would rather meet journalists than farmers. A navel-gazing attitude, frankly indecent!
- Julien Leonardelli (@JLeonardelli_) March 1, 2017
In the articles, the framing is clear: the aim is to destroy the right-wing candidates even though the others have skeletons in their closets too:
In the domains, Sputnik, Dreuz and FrDeSouche are in pole position:
With Macron
With Macron, it is mainly his formal investigation that is highlighted. Overall, however, they play it very soft. The aim is not so much to attack Fillon, but to show that he is a candidate who justifies Macron's neither-left-nor-right positioning and his call for political renewal. At most, they rub their hands over the UDI and the elected officials joining Macron.
https://twitter.com/xavier_alberti/status/836903246358851585
https://twitter.com/xavier_alberti/status/836914031088779264
The worst thing in the Fillon affair is not what he is accused of but what his defence reveals about him. He is everything we no longer want.
- Rubin Sfadj (@rubin) March 1, 2017
FRANÇOIS FILLON: J'ACCUSE pic.twitter.com/uuAy4TyScl
- Axel Kahn (@axelkahn) March 2, 2017
Fillon's spokespeople would be ready to tell us the earth is flat if they had to https://t.co/XXnSnTwL5z
- Pierre Le Texier (@pierre_lt) March 1, 2017
Standing for election while being prosecuted, organising a demonstration against the judges. #Fillon is a disgrace to the French
- David Georget (@Georget_D) March 1, 2017
Elected official Jérôme Dubus drops Fillon for... Macron! - Le Parisien https://t.co/6c1FNYFj9E
- Renaissance Arras (@Ren_Arras) March 1, 2017
In the articles, a very international anchoring (mainly because the communities identified in the methodology are not very homogeneous and this is clearly the candidate of the international papers), where Fillon is criticised and the newcomers are welcomed with relish:
Fairly progressive newspapers such as Le Temps, Le Monde and others.
With Fillon
On Fillon's side, his statement is relayed and support is displayed. A call is made for popular rallying. But nothing very striking in this top expressions and top hashtags list, unlike the top tweets, which clearly show that the support is there and that a judicial witch-hunt is being denounced.
Bruno Le Maire and his friends abandon ship #fillon. Only natural: bad sailors cannot stand the storm. History will judge.
- Yves de Kerdrel (@ydekerdrel) March 1, 2017
#Fillon summoned on 15 March for a formal investigation, deadline for candidacies 17 March but no, it is not orchestrated!
- Raymond Calascione (@exbabacool) March 1, 2017
3h after Fillon's press conference, Urvoas and FH, on whom the prosecutor's office depends, step in! I can't believe it! Where exactly is the independence of the justice system?
- Florence Desruol (@florencedesruol) March 1, 2017
FH would have tried to unplug the right-wing candidate, whoever he is, any means will do. FH can't believe Fillon is still standing
- Florence Desruol (@florencedesruol) March 1, 2017
Do you believe there is judicial relentlessness against François Fillon, beyond the treatment given to any other person before the courts? #votez #RT
- Vincent Goyet 🇫🇷 (@vgoyet) March 1, 2017
https://twitter.com/zebodag/status/836903106793340933
https://twitter.com/actu_politique3/status/836912941098233856
The types of information shared bring out the coverage of Le Figaro, Valeurs Actuelles, BFM and his own site.
On the articles side, there is no contest on the “framing”:
