Humor político y redes sociales: un análisis del escenario ecuatoriano a principios del siglo XXI

Abstract

This work deals the background of political humor in Ecuador at the end of the 20th century, and its overlap to social networks in the XXI century. Behind the satirical manifestations that circulate in social networks hide anonymous digital humorists who have recreated their digital body to intervene in virtual communities. It raises the discussions and practices of political humor in the virtual space, its "social significance" in the framework of the game of power and counterpower that has been strengthened by the communication media on the internet and new technologies. It also examines recent studies from the social sciences about political humor in other Spanish-speaking countries that contribute to discuss this phenomenon. The case analysis is the study of political humor in social networks in Ecuador, during the last months of Rafael Correa's government, the political campaign and elections of the new President, and the beginning of a new period. This is a "online ethnography" that implies the use of digital and traditional ethnographic tools to discover what happens on the network. At this point we also highlight the materialization of humorous expressions in digital formats that come to life while circulating through the virtual network. To finish, there is the question about the tensions and disputes surrounding political humor, the promotion and discrediting of candidates, and the accusations against the outgoing government, and a possible regulation to the contents that are published in the network is discussed.