🗓️ Wrapping up a busy year at the Social media lab @ULB 2025 might be coming to an end, but we still have a few more research items to share with you before you go: 🧵1/6

[OUT] Out now in @plc-journal.bsky.social PhD Summary: "Crafting campaigns, messages, and identities: Belgian parties in a digitalized political arena" by @lucaskins.bsky.social, postdoc at SciencePo ULB (Cevipol) plc-journal.eu/article/view...

🟢 La semaine dernière, @marielecocq.bsky.social et @cogolati.bsky.social ont démissionné de la co-présidence d’ @ecolo.be. Le parti est dit « en crise » dans un contexte où les thématiques écologistes apparaissent « en berne » (@lesoir.be). Analyse en 5️⃣ points clés sur base de nos travaux : 🧵1/6

Nous sommes ravi·es d’annoncer la parution d'un nouvel ouvrage de référence : « L’extrême droite en Belgique », auquel nous avons eu le plaisir de contribuer @lucaskins.bsky.social, C. Close de @sciencepoulb.bsky.social et @lcjacobs89.bsky.social de @m2p-antwerp.bsky.social. 🧵1/4

How permeable are online platforms to disinformation in Europe? 📝 A recent report by the SIMODS project brings some tentative answers to this question via its major cross-platform audit of disinformation in Europe on 6 social media platforms (2.6 million posts, totaling 24 billion views). 🧵1/5

🗣️ Quel·les politiques attirent le plus l’attention sur X et Bluesky ? Depuis les élections du 9 juin, plusieurs partis politiques belges ont changé de leadership. Revenons sur la manière dont les partis francophones et leurs président·es gèrent leur présence en ligne depuis lors. 🧵1/7

Now out in Party Politics 🎉 Our study (@jbpilet.bsky.social)suggests that when a mainstream right-wing party signals willingness to rule with the radical right, support for the radical right rises — while the mainstream gains nothing. 👉 A legitimisation effect. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

🆕 New research note from the Social Media Lab@ULB ⚔️ Attacks for likes: how negative campaigning boosts party leaders’ voice on X With evidence from over 5,000 posts by Belgian party leaders before and during the 2024 election campaign, our study validates but also refines existing research 🧵1/4

Ever wondered how rude political actors are when they criticise each other ❓ At the 2025 @ecpr.bsky.social General conference in Thessaloniki, Caroline Close and @lucaskins.bsky.social presented a paper co-authored with @awenig.bsky.social on the tone of political attacks on X. Quick recap 🧵1/5

📰 Comment le Vlaams Belang se radicalise dans l’ombre Pour @lesoir.be, @lcjacobs89.bsky.social revient sur l’évolution de la stratégie du Vlaams Belang depuis les élections. Pour en savoir plus : 📚 Consulter nos travaux : cevipol.phisoc.ulb.be/fr/projets-d... 🔗 Lire l'article complet ⬇️

📣 Plusieurs politologues de @sciencepoulb.bsky.social ont été sollicité·es dans les médias ces derniers jours pour commenter la décision de Meta d’interdire les publicités politiques à partir d’octobre, en réaction aux nouvelles règles 🇪🇺 en matière de transparence. 💬 Quelques éléments clés 🧵1/6

🗓️ Belgium held its 2024 federal elections one year ago. How did political parties attack each other on X? Our analysis shows that how parties communicate changes significantly during the electoral campaign compared to the pre-campaign period. Discover more! 👇 1/3 - 🧵

🗓️ One year ago, the official 2024 electoral campaign was ending How did political actors attack each other on social media, more specifically on X, during the electoral campaign? Check out our analysis on negative campaigning in Belgium 👇 1/4 - 🧵

🗓️ One year ago, the 2024 election campaign was entering its final phase. Our analysis of political communication on X reveals key strategies behind the victories of N-VA in Flanders and MR (with @lesengages-be.bsky.social) in French-speaking Belgium. Discover our analysis 👇 🧵 1/7

Platforms need to be researched on the risks they pose to society, like our civic discourse or our mental health. But the relationships between researchers, platforms and regulators are complicated. @lkseiling.bsky.social presenting their work on the #DSA at #WIConf2025

📢 Weg publieke sfeer? Nieuwsmedia, ooit de ruggengraat van onze democratie, staan onder druk. Sociale media, AI en radicale stemmen herschrijven de spelregels van informatie & invloed. Wat betekent dat voor onze democratie? Ik schreef erover voor Visie (De Gids): 👉 visie.net/de-gids-arti... 📰📉📱💥

Wat gebeurt er als de maskers afvallen? 🎭 “Theater is politiek met slechte acteurs,” zei een Belgisch premier ooit. Als het publiek het script doorziet, valt het doek. 💨 Mijn nieuwste column voor @sampolmaandblad.bsky.social over authenticiteit & politieke communicatie👉 www.sampol.be/2025/05/poli...

🏳️‍🌈 As part of Pride Month, we teamed up with @romainbiesemans.bsky.social and looked at the prevalence of LGBTQIA+ issues and people in the communication of Belgian parties and their leaders on X between January 2022 and June 2024. In this thread, we break down the results for you📎 🧵1/5

🚨 PhD position in Political Communication at @ascor.bsky.social 🚨 Come work with @ulrikeklinger.bsky.social @lindabos.bsky.social and myself on a 4-year project about visual communication & political anger DL June 4 - Thanks to repost for diversity! 🔥 @polcomm.bsky.social ➡️ tinyurl.com/8yvbkwxu

📸 Qui les partis belges francophones mettent-ils en avant sur X ? 🧐 Sans surprise, chaque parti politique adopte sa propre stratégie de communication pour promouvoir ses figures de proue. Mais que révèlent ces choix ? C’est ce que nous avons analysé dans notre étude 🔍 🧵1/5

📸 Wie staat er in de schijnwerpers van Vlaamse partijen op X? 🧐 Vlaamse partijen kiezen verschillende strategieën om hun kopstukken op X te profileren. Wat onthullen deze keuzes? 🔍👇 🧵1/5

♀️ Are women politicians in Belgium getting equal spotlight from their political parties on social media? Short answer: not really 👎 📊 On average in Belgium, fewer than 1 in 3 posts by political parties on X that mention politicians actually feature a woman. Discover our analysis 👇 🧵1/6

♀️ Are women politicians in Belgium getting equal spotlight from their political parties on social media? Short answer: not really 👎 📊 On average in Belgium, fewer than 1 in 3 posts by political parties on X that mention politicians actually feature a woman. Discover our analysis 👇 🧵1/6

🎯 New research from the @socialmedialab-ulb.bsky.social : Who gets the spotlight in Belgian parties’ communication? We analyzed 20K posts on X to understand how parties promote individual politicians, and how this shifted during the 2024 campaign. 🧵1/4

Great Lab, fantastic team! 🔥

🎉 Excited to launch the Social Media Lab (SML) @ULB on Bluesky! 🔎 The SML, a research project led by Caroline Close (@sciencepoulb.bsky.social) in collaboration with @uantwerpen.be, is an observatory of political communication on social media in Belgium. 🧵 1/5 – More below ⬇️