The pandemic as an opportunity. The mayor of Buenos Aires city on TikTok

Abstract

The research analyzes the sign in of Buenos Aires city mayor to TikTok during the pandemic. This social network represents a novelty for politics that makes it not only a territory to be explored but, fundamentally, a new space to conquer. The theoretical framework recovers, on one hand, the discussions of political sociology linked to the structure of opportunities and, on the other, the developments of the infotainment. The research is configured as a case study. As this methodology enables the use of different data collection and analysis techniques, we choose the triangulation of primary and secondary data. The study use a survey with a structured questionnaire, through the IVR format, and manual collection of information from the TikTok´s profile. On one hand the main findings suggests that the uses that AMBA citizens gaves to social networks during the pandemic context and the political opinions of TikTok users were the determining factors that allowed the mayor of Buenos Aires a very comfortable access to the platform. And, on the other hand, that formal and serious contents are excluded in all the publications of his account and replaced by formats close to informality, simplicity, emotionality and humor.