Digital Duel by NewsVibe. TOP 5 matches in the Romanian online space in 2024
The year 2024 saw no less than four rounds of elections: the European, local, presidential and parliamentary elections, making it one of the most intense in terms of elections in Romania's recent history.
In such a context, the parties obviously played central roles, and their presence in the most relevant online sources was notable. According to data analyzed with the help of NewsVibe, an innovative media intelligence platform, the top of online visibility is categorically dominated by PSD and PNL, which have obtained an almost identical number of mentions, close to 155 thousand. The two parties are followed at a great distance by USR, with over 63 thousand mentions. AUR registers just over 25 thousand mentions, while SOS Romania slightly exceeds 6,500 mentions.
The similar number of mentions of PSD and PNL is an indication that the two parties have often been featured together in articles and Facebook posts or have enjoyed similarly high levels of interest from online content authors.
Top 5 parties by online visibility
- National Liberal Party - 154,594 mentions
- Social Democratic Party - 154,592 mentions
- Save Romania Union - 63.124 mentions
- Alianța pentru Unirea Românilor - 25.386 mentions
- SOS Romania - 6.528 mentions
Note - only mentions from relevant online and social media sources (sources validated by the NewsVibe platform)
VOLVOLUME OF MENTIONS. The moments that generated the most mentions, for all the actors included in the analysis, are the electoral ones: June 9, the day of the local and European elections; November 24, the day of the first round of the presidential elections; December 2, the day after the parliamentary vote, when the results became clear.
It is also noticeable, for most of the year, the overlapping of the curves of mentions of PSD and PNL, given the joint exercise of the act of government, but also the political disputes, on electoral grounds, between the two parties.
Three distinct peaks for the PSD stand out: August 24, the PSD Congress to nominate a presidential candidate; December 2, the comments on the results of the parliamentary elections; December 19, when Marcel Ciolacu threatened that the PSD would switch to the opposition.
There are also two notable and distinct peaks of mentions for the PNL: June 9 - the day of the local elections; November 25 - immediately after the first round of the presidential elections, when PNL president and presidential candidate Nicolae Ciucă announced that he would step down as party leader after failing to enter the second round.
Graphic NewsVibe. Comparison of the number of mentions generated in relevant online and Facebook news sources by the top 5 parties in 2024
COMPARATORY VISIBILITY. The proportion of the number of mentions does not in all cases coincide with the proportion of their impact, in the sense that for some parties, the estimated impact at the public level is overstated relative to the volume of mentions, indicating references in high-impact sources. Thus, the impact is proportionally higher for mentions of AUR and USR and lower in the cases of PSD (especially) and PNL.
NewsVibe charts. Share of the number of mentions (left) and impact of mentions (right) about each of the parties, respectively, of the cumulative total of mentions about all five
IMPACT. The virtual curve of the estimated impact of mentions about the parties again shows similarity between PSD and PNL. In the run-up to the elections, the impact of mentions about all parties increased. Particularly during the presidential and parliamentary elections, the impact of mentions of sovereignist parties and USR, which came very close to PSD and PNL, increased.
Grafic NewsVibe. Comparison on the level of impact generated in relevant online and Facebook news sources by mentions of the top 5 parties, at 2024
ACCELERATING TRENDS The number of mentions of SOS Romania is the one that has fluctuated the most, with moments of steep increase - the most important being at the time of the CCR decision on the exclusion of Diana Șoșoaca from the presidential elections. The frequency of mentions increased for all parties at election moments.
Graphic NewsVibe. Moments of accelerated rise or fall in the volume of mentions of the top 5 parties, at the 2024 level, in relevant online and Facebook news sources.
*****Summary produced using a monitoring feed provided by NewsVibe Romania. The analysis, data and images presented were enhanced with Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence tools.
