E-Managing the Pre-election Messages During the 2021 Parliamentary Campaigns in Bulgaria

The pre-election campaign for the early parliamentary vote in Bulgaria on July 11, 2021 was held in the conditions of an uncertain COVID-19 situation, political confrontation and the games of the European Football Championship. Following the trend of the previous regular elections of April 4 after which no government was appointed, Internet platforms and especially social networks have become increasingly popular channels for politicians to communicate with voters. The aim of the study focuses on the dynamics of pre-election online communication. The object is the specifics of the Internet connection between the audiences and the candidates for members of Parliament during the election campaign in July compared to the previous one in April. The subject refers to the digital election messages of the leaders of the political forces, presented in their Facebook profiles. The methodology is an empirical study and comparative analysis. The scope includes those political forces that have passed the 4% electoral threshold. The results are indicative for those interested in digital political communication during social isolation of pandemic. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Digital Campaigning: Challenges for Older Bulgarian Electorate

2021 was an election year for the Bulgarians - they had to go to the polls for three national parliamentary votes (one regular and two early) and once again - for president. The pre-election campaigns for all these votes were held in the conditions of COVID-19 epidemic, hard political confrontation and some concomitant factors such as the European Football Championship, the summer vacations and the strong inflationary trends. Internet platforms and especially social networks became increasingly popular channels for politicians to communicate with voters. That is why the aim of the study focuses on the digital pre-election campaigns. The object is the dynamics of the internet connection between the voters (especially the older adults) and the MP candidates. The subject refers to the election messages of the leaders of the political forces, presented in their Facebook profiles. The methodology is comparative analysis and empirical study, conducted by academic research team from the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication at The St. Kliment Ohridski Sofia University. The scope of the study includes those political forces that have passed the 4% electoral threshold. The results are indicative for those interested in digital political communication during social pandemic isolation. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Social Challenges to Communication in Digital Environment

During the global anti-epidemiological measures imposed to combat the COVID-19, in July 2020 protests broke out in Bulgaria, caused by a number of corruption scandals in the country. The demand was the resignations of the chief prosecutor of the Republic of Bulgaria and the ruling government and sumonning of early elections for national Parliament. The object of the study is the public unrest against corruption in Bulgaria. The subject is the relationship between digital and real environment through computerization. The research method is analysis. Some of the conclusions are that the protests in Bulgaria ran from the virtual to the real environment and back through social networks and social media and had significant societal impacts. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

COVID-19 Impact of Virtual Communication During Social Isolation on Bulgarian Society

The topic of virtual communication in the context of social isolation during the spread of the new corona virus strain (SARS-CoV-2) and its associated disease COVID-19 is an extremely important scientific problem with paradigmatic dimensions and fundamental consequences for society. As a technologically mediated way of communication, it proved that during a pandemic, the virtual communication is the only alternative to traditional face-to-face communication, and its use was inevitable to partially or completely overcome the social restrictions imposed. In order to examine some of the effects of the virtual communication during the social isolation in Bulgaria, an academic research team from the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication at The St. Kliment Ohridsky Sofia University undertook a study in the declared two month’s period (13.03.–13.05.2020) of the state of national emergency in the country. The researchers conducted a three-folded study: on the sociological polls and the media coverage during the pandemics;on the activities of the telecommunication industry;and on the impacts of virtual communication during the social isolation, using mixed methodology: quantitative and qualitative survey with three groups of respondents: media users, media professionals and media experts. The results of the effects of virtual communication in social isolation were indicative. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Impacts of Virtual Communication During Social Isolation of Covid’19

The COVID’19 pandemic has led to drastic changes in people’s lifestyle around the world, incl. those related to the natural way in which individuals interact and communicate. In order to examine some of the effects of virtual communication during the social isolation, an academic research team from the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication at The St. Kliment Ohridsky Sofia University of Bulgaria undertook a study in the declared two-month’s period (13.03.–13.05.2020) of the state of emergency in the country. The researchers conducted a three-folded study: on the sociological polls and the media coverage during the pandemics;on the impacts of virtual communication during the social isolation, using mixed methodology: quantitative and qualitative survey with three groups of respondents: media users, media professionals and media experts;and on the activities of the telecommunication industry. The results of the effects of virtual communication in social isolation were indicative. © 2021, The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.