Managing the Image. The Visual Communication Strategy of European Right-Wing Populist Politicians on Instagram

The visual social media platform Instagram is a popular tool for political image building. Drawing on image management theory as well as right-wing populist and visual communication, this study explores how eight European leading politicians of right-wing populist parties present themselves on Instagram. The aim is to provide a first insight into relevant characteristics and patterns of their Instagram communication. The approach is twofold: A comprehensive visual content analysis (N = 724) is followed by hierarchical clustering on principal components. Three types of messages were identified, the most important ones being the creation of a professional image and the demonstration of closeness to citizens. Surprisingly few of the categories considered as relevant for right-wing populist communication were detected. At the individual level, politicians differ in the messages they emphasize.