The Strategic Use of Visuals on Facebook: A Multimodal Analysis of Images and Audience Reactions During the Campaign for the 2019 UK General Election

Abstract

The article studies the images that British political parties posted on Facebook during the 2019 UK elections. Verbal and nonverbal resources in the visuals were examined to look at the following strategies: Broadcasting Policy, Mobilization, Attacking Opponents, and Image Management. Overall, attacking opponents was the most common strategy for verbal and nonverbal resources. Attacks against opponents were also associated with a higher number of likes and shares. A substantial portion of text in the images was used to talk about policies, in particular by the two largest parties, the Conservative Party and Labour Party. Visuals posted on Facebook by the Labour Party generated the highest number of audience reactions. Specific differences among political parties were also analyzed and discussed.