Political disputes in X: the disqualificationof the other based on irony or insult

Abstract

Our work aims to approach the digital platform X as a space for political arguments in which the disqualification of the other takes precedence over the deliberate search for a common agreement. We think that, in the framework of political militancy within social media, political polarization occurs in most cases through the recurrence of rhetorical strategies —such as insults or irony— that work under the premise of discrediting the other. Therefore, we can consider that the user’s identity —linked to a group that defends the same ideas— is constructed based on their word and in contrast to their adversary’s. From this idea, we propose to discursively analyze a discussion that took place on platform
X —formerly named Twitter— thanks to an online post made by presidential candidate, Sergio Massa, about his stay in Córdoba city. To carry out this analysis, we will refer to two texts that make up our theoretical framework: Polémica y argumentación en el espacio público democrático by Ruth Amossy (2017) and “La función del ethos en la formación del discurso conflictivo” by Dominique Garand (2016).