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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Media Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1478639

Cyber Warfare: A Study of Zelenskyy's Social Media Political Performance Strategies and Effect

Provisionally accepted
Liqiang Wang Liqiang Wang Ruonan Wang Ruonan Wang *
  • Shandong University, Jinan, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    During the Russia-Ukraine war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has strategically used social media to appeal for international support. This reflects a broader trend of political figures relying on digital platforms to shape public opinion and influence global narratives during crises.Based on theories of dramaturgy, framing, and network agenda-setting, this study explores the impact of his political performance strategies within the context of the ongoing conflict. Through the Twitter Academic API, 604 valid tweets and 58,100 corresponding comments are collected. And then we comprehensively use content analysis, sentiment analysis and social network analysis to conduct a quantitative analysis of Zelenskyy's wartime social media narrative, performance and effect. The findings show that Zelenskyy employs both textual and visual narratives to construct a war-related agenda, influencing international public discourse. His agenda-setting is most effective in the early stages of the conflict but weakens over time. This study highlights Zelenskyy's flexibility and adaptability in his media strategy, illustrating the evolving nature of political performance in a globalized media landscape. To maintain effective communication and image-building, leaders must balance audience psychology with the characteristics of digital media.

    Keywords: Russia-Ukraine War, Zelenskyy, Social Media, Political performance, War Narrative Frame

    Received: 10 Aug 2024; Accepted: 25 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wang and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Ruonan Wang, Shandong University, Jinan, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.