Gamers on Independence Day

far-right and brazilian gamers discourse on Twitter

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1590/1809-58442023133pt

Keywords:

Communication, Game Studies, Gamers, Politics, Social Network Analysis

Abstract

This article investigates the narratives surrounding the online public debate of gamer communities on Twitter during the political rallies for the bicentennial of Brazilian Independence Day, occurring in September 2022. The analysis is based on two collections conducted between August 31 and September 14, resulting in one corpus of 11,607 interactions made by 4,090 accounts, and another of 59 interactions by 47 accounts. The results reinforce the perception that the event was not a relevant topic in the observed gamer communities, pointing to a possible loss of support by former president Jair Bolsonaro among gamers.

Author Biographies

Tarcízio Macedo, Fundação Getúlio Vargas. Rio de Janeiro - RJ, Brazil

Researcher at the Innovation Cube at FGV ECMI. Ph.D. in Communication and Information at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), a Master in Communication, Culture and the Amazon at the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), a specialist in Scientific Communication in the Amazon at the Nucleus of Advanced Amazonian Studies (Naea, UFPA), MPEG/MCTI and Facom/UFPA, and a journalist. He was a visiting researcher at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and the Universitat de Vic – Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC) during his Ph.D. studies and at UFBA and UNEB during his Master studies. He is a member of the Digital Artifacts Laboratory (UFRGS) and of the Innovation and Technology in Communication (UFPA) and Communication, Algorithms and Digital Technologies (FGV ECMI) research groups.

Leonor Jungstedt, Fundação Getúlio Vargas. Rio de Janeiro - RJ, Brazil

Leonor Jungstedt has been a researcher at FGV ECMI since 2019, working on research focusing on public policies and open data. She participates in the Innovation Cube with an interest in video games, digital culture, and new technologies and their markets. She majored in Economic Sciences at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ).

Alessandra Maia, Fundação Getúlio Vargas. Rio de Janeiro - RJ, Brazil

Ph.D. in Communication with a background in Journalism and Public Relations at UERJ. She is a professor at FGV ECMI and coordinator of the Innovation Cube/FGV, where she does practical, experimental, and empirical research on Digital Technologies. She is a researcher at the CLAC research network (Communication, Play, Affect, and Cognition), which involves researchers from UERJ, UFJF, UFMA, UFU, and FGV. Her research interests include concepts such as Innovation, Creativity, and Invention in digital culture products, using them as a playful locus for sensory, social, and learning development.

Maria Sirleidy Cordeiro, Fundação Getúlio Vargas. Rio de Janeiro - RJ, Brazil

Ph.D. and Master in Linguistics at the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE). She completed part of her Ph.D. program in Portugal at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP). She is a professor at FGV ECMI and a member of the research group on Communication, Society, and Digital Media (FGV). She works in the areas of cognitive linguistics, critical discourse analysis, and public policy analysis, investigating processes of meaning, ideologies, and power relations imbricated in text and discourse.

Dalby Hubert, Fundação Getúlio Vargas. Rio de Janeiro - RJ, Brazil

Ph.D. in Linguistics at the Fluminense Federal University (UFF), a professor at FGV ECMI, and a member of the research group on Communication, Society and Digital Media (FGV). He works academically and professionally in the fields of cognitive linguistics, corpus linguistics, computational linguistics, and social network analysis.

Luis Gomes, Fundação Getúlio Vargas. Rio de Janeiro - RJ, Brazil

Graduated in Social Communication (FACHA). Design Coordinator at FGV ECMI. He works with online political debate monitoring, disinformation, and data visualization. He participates in the Innovation Cube, focusing on game studies, immersive technologies, digital culture, and new technologies.

Polyana Barboza, Fundação Getúlio Vargas. Rio de Janeiro - RJ, Brazil

Professor working with data extraction and analysis on social networks at FGV ECMI. She has a major in Applied Mathematics at the School of Applied Mathematics of Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV EMAp) and is a Master in Computer Science at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio). Her main lines of research are Social Network Analysis in Digital Media and Multi-agent Systems in Software Engineering.

Lucas Roberto da Silva, Fundação Getúlio Vargas. Rio de Janeiro - RJ, Brazil

Professor and researcher at the School of Communication, Media, and Information at Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV ECMI), where he works on data extraction and analysis of social networks. He has a major in Mathematics at the Fluminense Federal University (UFF) and is a Master in Computer Science at the Department of Informatics in PUC-Rio. His main lines of research are Analysis of Social Networks and Natural Language Processing.

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Published

2023-12-15

How to Cite

MACEDO, T.; JUNGSTEDT, L.; MAIA, A.; CORDEIRO, M. S.; HUBERT, D.; GOMES, L.; BARBOZA, P.; SILVA, L. R. da. Gamers on Independence Day: far-right and brazilian gamers discourse on Twitter. Intercom - Brazilian Journal of Communication Sciences, São Paulo, v. 46, p. e2023133, 2023. DOI: 10.1590/1809-58442023133pt. Disponível em: https://revistas.intercom.org.br/index.php/revistaintercom/article/view/4533. Acesso em: 2 may. 2025.

Issue

Vol. 46 (2023)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Tarcízio Macedo, Leonor Jungstedt, Alessandra Maia, Maria Sirleidy Cordeiro, Dalby Hubert, Luis Gomes, Lucas Roberto da Silva, Polyana Barboza

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