ABSTRACT
Polarization is one of the most frequent strategies in political. This chapter discusses the use of polarization strategies and populist discourse in the microblogging platform Twitter during a period covering two electoral campaigns in Spain: from December 2015 to June 2016. Twitter is one among many tools in a complex hybrid media system but it has become the most attractive channel for political communication which explains the growing interest in its analysis. There is already much research on the political discourse on Twitter. In the case of Spain, several studies have concluded that politicians have to employ this new medium to optimum effect. Find paradoxical behaviour in the campaigns on Twitter. While have seen strategies that might intensify polarization, have also found others that homogenize discourses. In general, the messages are similar, while controversial topics, which expected to be the base for differentiation, are overshadowed by more general and incidental ones.
