Evaluating Social Media Credibility and Its Influence on Political Discourse in Pakistan

Abstract

This study aims to examine the role of social media, in our case X (formerly Twitter), in the political discourse in Pakistan in terms of the major political parties and audiences responding to their tweets. The research is framed under the concept of political polarization, which is shown to be the cause of both the elite level and the mass-level polarization in the digital communication. The methodology uses convenience sample. The database consists of 1 month (1 July to 31 July) of tweets and comments by the leading political parties (PTI, PML-N, PPP, ANP).The analysis of the tweets and comments reveal new themes of national security, political accountability, international engagement and condemnation of terrorism. The findings show that the political parties have been highly dependent on the X to highlight their achievements and condemn their opponents. Conversely, the public reacts to these tweets with either vehement denunciation or outright support, and often this is done by resorting to insults in lieu of factual discourse. The research shows that the establishment is responsible for adding to mass polarization through this social media platform by intensifying the existing division. The study highlights the importance of political leaders to consider the long-term effects of the content they create on their audience, as well as the need for commenter to have a more measured approach to interacting with content online.