Personal and Group Identity in Facebook Political Posts
Personal and Group Identity in Facebook Political Posts

Summary/Abstract: The article explores the phenomenon of political communication through social network sites as Facebook, analyzing three messages posted on his Facebook page by an Italian right-wing politician. The research focuses on the discursive construction of the poster’s identity and the relationships between in- and out-groups, by paying attention to the intertextual dimension of the Facebook messages. The results reveal that the politician engages in a specific form of dialogue in the public sphere, by challenging the viewpoints previously expressed by other political actors. The posts also construct the migrants arriving to Italy as a dangerous out-group which menaces the preservation of the Italian national culture and identity. In spite of their intertextuality, the posts do not provide a stimulus for a public debate, but serve to reinforce the ideology of the party represented by the poster.

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