RQ2: Are there differences between politicians according to their main ideas regarding progressive-conservative ideologies, and according to their central concepts about traditional party-emerging party?

H2: Progressive parties and their leaders strengthen their ties with the community more than conservative parties and their candidates, and they do so by appealing to the values and ideological foundations of their political parties. On the other hand, emerging parties and their leaders share personal issues and promote interaction with their supporters to a greater extent than traditional parties.

3. Methodology

The methodology used in this research is based on the techniques of quantitative content analysis (Igartua, 2006, Piñuel, 2002). Specifically, all of the publications that the main parties and their candidates disseminated on Facebook in the 2016 electoral campaign in Spain have been analysed. The period of investigation covered 18 days, including 15 days of official campaigning, the day of reflection, the day of voting, and the day after. During this period, the messages published in ten accounts of five parties and their respective leaders have been studied, and they are as follows: Partido Popular (PP) and Mariano Rajoy; Partido Socialista (PSOE) and Pedro Sánchez; Ciudadanos (Cs) and Albert Rivera; Podemos and Pablo Iglesias; Izquierda Unida (IU) and Alberto Garzón.

The sample was chosen according to those options that received the greatest number of votes in the 2016 election, representing 89.95% of all votes. It should be noted that Podemos and Izquierda Unida presented a joint list under the coalition known as Unidos Podemos, although they campaigned on Facebook from the accounts of both parties, which is why the details of both accounts are included. On the other hand, except for Alberto Garzón (IU), the rest of the leaders are the candidates of their respective lists to preside over the Spanish Government. Furthermore, this sample allows for a comparison to be made regarding the strategies followed by the big parties representing bipartisanship in Spain, PP and PSOE, which have been alternating power incumbency for years, as well as the strategies promoted by emerging parties that have been competing in the elections since 2015 and represent the “new politics”, which are Cs and Podemos.