This week in the Digital Debate, we analyzed the reactions of Twitter users to the 155 Opening Statements of the Constituent Convention, from October 15 to 29.

Summary

22,800 tweets
21,200 retweets (93%)
120 replies (1%)

Words

Once the General Regulations of the Constituent Convention and the established permanent commissions were approved and published, it was time for the Opening Statements, which initiated the substantive discussion of the constitutional text. Each of the 155 Constituents had 5 minutes to deliver a speech, which resulted in several days of speeches regarding the different positions of the Constituents on the drafting of a new Constitution, from Wednesday, October 20, until Tuesday, October 26, when President Elisa Loncón closed the day with her speech.

The most used words in Twitter posts were “ayúdenme” (help me), “tere”, “marinovic”, “compartirlo” (share) and “corriente” (tide).

Most of the frequently used words were related to a tweet published by the Constituent Teresa Marinovic on Tuesday, October 26, the day she made her speech, posting a link to a video on the Youtube account of Fundación Novamente titled Tere Marinovic against the tide: “My opening speech at the Constitutional Convention. “HELP ME SHARE IT!”, she published. The tweet reached more than 5,500 retweets and 7,100
“like” reactions.

Hashtags

The most used hashtag in the analysis period was #laconventionavanza (the convention advances). Other frequently used hashtags were #antofagasta and #archivoshistóricalaneta (La Neta’s historical archive). President Elisa Loncón shared with her Twitter followers her full opening speech in Mapudungún, tagging the official Conventionm account @convencioncl and using #LaConvenciónAvanza. Other constituents also used the hashtag #LaConvenciónAvanza to share photos of the opening days and other images of committee work. The Convention account also used the hashtag to share related news on the social network.

Timeline

The highest frequency of tweets per hour was recorded on Tuesday, October 26, at 2pm, after the speech of the Constituent of the 16th district, Nicolás Núñez, which included singing and guitar, went viral. In his speech, he called for the deformalization of decision-making spaces, such as the Constituent Convention. This particular intervention was widely commented upon, with congratulations on one side and criticism on the other.

Tweets with the most retweets

During the opening days, the tweets with the highest number of retweets (besides Teresa Marinovic’s tweet) came from the account og Jaime Bassa and the account of the TV program 24 Horas in the national channel. The vice president of the Constituent Convention, Jaime Bassa, published a photo giving his speech and shared part of it along with the hashtag #DiscursosDeApertura (opening speeches): “We are the end of a history of expropriations; expropriation of the commons, but also of the capacity for political imagination. At the same time, we are the beginning of a path of transformation, which allows us to look to the future with hope”, he wrote. On the other hand, a link to the speech that Teresa Marinovic was giving was shared by the account of the program 24 Horas, and a part of it was published: “We are here to draft a constitutional text, that’s what I came for. But I found more willingness to increase bonuses, simulate illnesses, lies and victimization”.

Tweet 1:
My opening speech at the Constitutional Convention! Help me share it!
Tere Mrinovic against the tide.

Tweet 2:
“We are the end of a history of expropriations, expropriation of the commons, but also of the capacity for political imagination. At the same time, we are the beginning of a path of transformation, which allows us to look to the future with hope”.
#DiscursosDeApertura

Tweet 3:
@tere_marinovic’s Opening Speech: “We are here to draft a constitutional text, that’s what I came for. But I found more willingness to increase bonuses, simulate illnesses, lies and victimization”.

Analysis of networks and communities

When including only posts related to the main speeches, the number of posts is lower, which leads to a lower number of interactions. By far the most influential account was that of Teresa Marinovic. She was followed by the account @24horastvn, the account of Jaime Bassa, the official account of the Constituent Convention @convencioncl, the account of the Constituent Assembly of district 3, Cristina Dorador, the account of the media outlet @lanetacl, and the account of President Elisa Loncón . The account @24horastvn appeared as the most influential inside a third community (in green on the map), which also acts as a connector for the different groups.

Methodological note

The survey was carried out through the Trendsmap application with the following query: #DiscursosDeApertura OR “discursos de apertura” OR “discurso de apertura”. In this search, we sought to include conversations related exclusively to the opening speeches given at the Constituent Convention between October 20 and 26 and their reactions on Twitter. We collected data on conversations produced by users located in Chile and in Spanish. The search considered the period between Friday, October 15, and Friday, October 29, 2021.

* The Digital Democracy Room is a project of FGV DAPP in Brazil in partnership with Animal Político, Bolivia Verifica, Chequeado, Confidencial, Espacio Público, Linterna Verde and Ojo Público. It’s goal is to monitor and analyze the digital conversations regarding the electoral context.

The analysis is available the website of Espacio Público here.