DIGITAL DUEL by NewsVibe. TOP 5 parties in the Romanian online space, in the last week

According to the data extracted and analyzed with the help of NewsVibe, an AI media monitoring platform, both the total number of mentions about parties and their estimated impact are increasing compared to the previous week. All political formations are recording a higher volume of mentions in relevant online sources; however, the growth rate varies from one party to another.

The UDMR Congress in Cluj-Napoca, attended by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the continuation of discussions within the coalition about administrative reform and the third package of measures regarding deficit reduction (still without a clear conclusion), disputes regarding the organization of elections for the Bucharest City Hall, as well as the actions of the opposition in Parliament (simple motions) represented the main political events that defined the online media context of the parties in the last week.

UDMR is the performer of the analyzed period, with a spectacular increase of over 190% in the number of mentions compared to the previous week, as a result of the visibility generated by the Congress of the formation led by Kelemen Hunor. PSD also records a significant increase of over 66%, while USR nearly 85%. The increases for PNL and AUR, although present, are smaller compared to those of the first three mentioned parties.

NEWSVIBE GRAPH. Top 5 parties by the volume of mentions in relevant online sources and social media (sources validated by the NewsVibe platform), in the last week.

VISIBILITY AND COMPARATIVE IMPACT. The competitive analysis engine created by NewsVibe evaluates the ability of political actors to penetrate the online space, directly compared to their competitors.

Both the number and the overall impact of mentions about the parties in the coalition exceed 90% of the total. However, even though UDMR generates approximately 17% of mentions, the estimated impact associated with them is only 13%, a situation similar to that of the previous week. PSD and UDMR are the only parties for which the share of the impact of mentions, relative to the total of parties, is lower than the actual share of the volume of these mentions in total.

NewsVibe Charts. The share of the number of mentions (left), respectively the impact of mentions (right) about each of the parties from the total cumulative mentions about all five

NETWORK ANALYSIS. The tool created by NewsVibe – semantic network analysis – uses advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning methods to build interaction maps that highlight: the central actors of a conversation, the connections between them, the groups (clusters) of themes, concepts, and influencers (personalities and organizations) that have formed around an event, subject, or idea.

NewsVibe Graph. The semantic network associated with the online conversation about the main 5 parliamentary parties, in the last week 

What the analysis shows: 

• An important area of discussion, represented by the color green, has as main entities PSD, Sorin Grindeanu, or Facebook (a communication channel heavily used by parties). This area reflects the continuation of discussions within the coalition on topics such as administrative reform, the third package of measures regarding deficit reduction, or local elections in Bucharest – subjects on which PSD frequently positions itself in disagreement with the Prime Minister or with other parties in the coalition, promoting its own vision.
• A distinct segment, with multiple internal connections, centers around PNL, AUR, and USR, but also associated entities such as Ludovic Orban, George Simion, Parliament, or Radu Miruță. This area is influenced by discussions regarding the elections in Bucharest, but also by AUR's actions in Parliament – such as the motion against the Minister of Economy or the announcement of submitting new motions targeting all Cabinet members.
• Another important area of debate centers around UDMR and is associated with relevant names in domestic politics, but also with the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban. This cluster is generated by the recent UDMR Congress, which produced high media coverage and multiple reactions – especially regarding the presence of Prime Minister Orban at the event and the singing of the Szekler anthem during the Congress.

SENTIMENT. The NewsVibe platform has created an advanced automated sentiment analysis system that uses specially trained AI algorithms and LLM tools to detect tonal nuances – favorable, unfavorable, or neutral – in the context of references to entities relevant to an online conversation.

NewsVibe Graph. Automated evaluation of the tone of the online conversation about the main 5 parliamentary parties, in the week

What the analysis shows: 

• PSD and Ilie Bolojan are the political actors most frequently covered by online sources in negative, controversial, or polarized contexts. This type of context is mainly generated by disputes within the coalition regarding government policies or the organization of elections for the Bucharest City Hall.
• The majority of political actors were present in negative contexts in the last week, a phenomenon more pronounced than in previous periods. This trend reflects the intensification of debates and disputes in the political space.

*****Synthesis made with the help of a data monitoring flow provided by the media monitoring platform NewsVibe Romania. The analysis, data, and images presented have been enhanced with the help of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence tools.