Male and female politicians on twitter: a machine learning approach

Beltrán, Javier; Gallego Dobón, Aina; Huidobro Torres, Alba; Romero Merino, Enrique; Padró, Lluís

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.12392

Male and female politicians on twitter: a machine learning approach

Citation

Beltran J, Gallego A, Huidobro A, Romero E, Padró L. Male and female politicians on twitter: a machine learning approach. European Journal of Political Research. 2021 Feb;60(1):239-51. DOI: 10.1111/1475-6765.12392

Abstract

How does the language of male and female politicians differ when they communicate directly with the public on social media? Do citizens address them differently? We apply Lasso logistic regression models to identify the linguistic features that most differentiate the language used by or addressed to male and female Spanish politicians. Male politicians use more words related to politics, sports, ideology and infrastructure, while female politicians talk about gender and social affairs. The choice of emojis varies greatly across genders. In a novel analysis of tweets written by citizens, we find evidence of gender-specific insults, and note that mentions of physical appearance and infantilising words are disproportionately found in text addressed to female politicians. The results suggest that politicians conform to gender stereotypes online and reveal ways in which citizens treat politicians differently depending on their gender.