Trump’s communication strategy on instagram: Computational visual and textual analysis of posts

This study examines the dynamics of visual and textual political communication on Donald Trump's Instagram account from 2013 to 2021, focusing on his two election campaigns and his period as president. By employing Goffman's theory of self-representation, considering the affordances of the platform, and applying agenda-setting, framing, and online public opinion formation theories, this research aims to uncover the evolution of Trump's communication strategy. The study addresses research questions related to changes in Trump's visual and textual content based on his status, differences in communication strategies observed during election campaigns and the reflection of public interests in engagement with Trump's social media content. The study adopts a mixed methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative techniques such as computational content analysis, ImageWall analysis, analysis of computer vision API outputs, network analysis, and automated textual analysis using the BERTopic model. The study illustrates how Trump strategically adapted to different roles and leveraged Instagram's features to effectively convey his desired image, engage with his audience, and shape public perception. As part of the study, a unique dataset was created, the research design, which can be used to research other politicians, political parties, and movements, was proposed, and a comprehensive analysis of Trump’s communication strategy over time was conducted.