Pro şi contra suspendării preşedintelui: referendum pe Facebook
For and against the Impeachment of the President: the Referendum on Facebook

Summary/Abstract: Facebook has proved to be an efficient means of political communication between citizens and politicians. On this virtual stage, political actors display their competence, consolidate their fame, mobilize their volunteers and attack their political opponents, encourage donations and debate some sensitive issues of the society. Citizens have the chance to get informed, to organize and to mobilize themselves for different causes or candidates, to participate in different events or elections campaigns. Our study will analyze the use of Facebook during the election campaign for the impeachment referendum (July 29, 2012). The analysis will focus on the posts made both by the pro-Băsescu citizens and by those that are against. The research questions addressed will focus on: a) the types of information posted by both opponent groups; b) the degree in which the Facebook accounts are used for acclaims, attacks or defenses; c) the time span during the election campaign in which „the dialogue” between the two groups gets more intense; d) the degree of interactivity between those who post the information and their „friends”. The research methods are functional analysis and content analysis. The two opponent groups sent their messages by the use of photographic images, verbal texts and advertising images. They used more attacks than acclaims, and had an intense activity during the middle and the end of the campaign. Their Facebook pages were interactive allowing the posting of appreciations, comments and the distribution of the materials posted.

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