ANALYSIS OF POPULIST DISCOURSE IN THE SOCIAL MEDIA LANDSCAPE OF PAKISTAN

Abstract

In the social media sphere, populist political parties strategically use social media to rally support and shape the public opinion in their favour. In this regard, the study investigated the populist discourse in the social media landscape of Pakistan to find out the extent to which political parties in Pakistan engage in populist tendencies on social media. For this purpose, social media posts of four high profile political parties were analyzed manually. The study found that these political parties increasingly indulge in populist tendencies on social media by utilizing various strategies to influence public opinion. The study showed that emotionalism and demonization were the most prominent populist attributes used by the populist parties in Pakistan on social media.