Bots, Cyborgs and WhatsAppers: Human and Non-Human Actors in Brazilian Digital Political Groups

Authors

  • Geraldo Bittencourt Instituto de Comunicação da NOVA — ICNOVA, Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5304-4427
  • Jorge Martins Rosa Instituto de Comunicação da NOVA — ICNOVA, Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3388-8141

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58050/comunicando.v11i2.293

Keywords:

Bots, Cyborgs, Non-Human, WhatsApp

Abstract

This article seeks to answer the question: how can members of digital political groups be characterized when the existence of human and non-human actors in the environment is admitted? For this, an exploratory research was carried out with 1,040 members of Brazilian political WhatsApp groups between October 30, 2020 and November 29, 2020. After collecting and analyzing the results, it was noticed that the groups are formed mostly by WhatsAppers, who are the organic members, but the presence of bots and cyborgs is also noticeable. The performance of these fully or partially automated accounts is linked to the sharing of unfavorable messages to opponents or content that praises politicians who enjoy the preference of space.

 

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Published

2022-10-18

How to Cite

Bittencourt , G. ., & Rosa, J. M. . (2022). Bots, Cyborgs and WhatsAppers: Human and Non-Human Actors in Brazilian Digital Political Groups. Revista Comunicando, 11(2), e022017. https://doi.org/10.58050/comunicando.v11i2.293

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 2 (2022): July — December 2022 (continuous publication)

Section

Thematic Section

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Geraldo Bittencourt , Jorge Martins Rosa

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The authors retain the copyright, but grant Revista Comunicando the right of first publication. The work will be licensed under a Creative Commons License - Attribution 4.0 International.