Cringe - Emotional manipulation as a tool of political control in Albanian digital campaigns (2025)
<p dir="ltr">This comprehensive research dataset examines the strategic use of "cringe" and awkwardness in Albanian political communication during the 2025 parliamentary elections. Through mixed-methods analysis of 3,247 social media posts, 1,856 videos, and 2,156 memes, th...
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2025
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| Summary: | <p dir="ltr">This comprehensive research dataset examines the strategic use of "cringe" and awkwardness in Albanian political communication during the 2025 parliamentary elections. Through mixed-methods analysis of 3,247 social media posts, 1,856 videos, and 2,156 memes, this study documents a radical transformation in political discourse where traditional policy-based communication (27%) was overwhelmed by cringe-based content (73%).</p><p dir="ltr"><b>Key findings include:</b></p><ul><li>Perfect correlation (r = 1.000) between cringe intensity and electoral success</li><li>Identification of six strategic cringe tactics used by politicians</li><li>Discovery of 58 anonymous pages using artificial amplification (ratios up to 396:1)</li><li>Evidence of cringe functioning as affective governance and social control</li></ul><p dir="ltr"><b>Dataset contents:</b></p><ul><li>Full research paper (English & Albanian versions)</li><li>Interactive data visualizations and statistical analysis</li><li>Comprehensive emotions lexicon for cringe phenomenon</li><li>Detailed supplementary materials with coded examples</li><li>Methodology documentation and ethics compliance records</li></ul><p dir="ltr"><b>Methodology:</b> Mixed-methods approach combining computational analysis with qualitative discourse analysis. Machine learning algorithms used for sentiment analysis and bot detection. All personal data processed in compliance with EU GDPR regulations.</p><p dir="ltr">This research contributes to understanding how digital platforms enable new forms of political manipulation with broader implications for democratic discourse quality and electoral integrity.</p> |
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