The populist social media playbook: the battle for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
(The Guardian Italy)

Matteo Salvini´s caustic rhetoric carried him to power, but is Narendra Modi´s gentler approach just as effective?When he received the phone call from the leader of the far-right League party, Edoardo Della Barbara knew he had won an elaborate Facebook contest. It was February - in the midst of Italy´s general election campaign - and Della Barbara was the latest follower to like the most posts by Matteo Salvini in the shortest amount of time.`I knew it was linked to building engagement through social media,` said Della Barbara, a 22-year-old university student from Milan. Related: Revealed: how Italy`s populists used Facebook to win power Related: `Italians first`: how the populist right became Italy`s dominant force Continue reading...