Mobile instant messaging services, particularly Telegram, are becoming a new tool for politicians in their communication with citizens. This research aims to know the main functions attributed to Telegram, the themes of the messages and the multimedia resources used in the electoral campaign. We choose a descriptive study with an exploratory purpose and we apply quantitative content analysis to 877 messages published by the main Spanish parties during the November 2019 elections: PSOE, PP, Ciudadanos, Unidas Podemos, Izquierda Unida, Más País and Vox. The results show that the main political use of Telegram is to spread content from other redes sociales, especially Twitter and Facebook. This mobile application plays a secondary role in the communication strategy of the campaign parties. The function of participation and mobilization of the electorate also detects high values. Concernin...

The presence of candidates in politainment programs during electoral campaigns has already become a general practice in Spain. Considering that the vast majority of reactions on social media refer to the content or guests of television programs (D'heer & Verdegem, 2014), these reactions can be used to determine to what extent these shows contribute to improving the political knowledge of each candidate through the eyes of the audience (Boukes & Trilling, 2017). This research is based on some previous studies supporting the impact of political infotainment programs on promoting political engagement among the social audience, (Moy, Xenos & Hess, 2005) and in terms of benefits for politicians regarding their public image and outreach to new audiences (Teruel, 2016). However, this study aims to go further, specifying what type of content promotes greater public involvement. ...