This is how the ‘X’ effect has influenced the negative perception towards President Petro

It is no secret to anyone that President Gustavo Petro’s favorite social network is X. A choice that is far from coincidental, since in terms of digital conversation, this platform is the one that usually sets the tone.

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In this context, the consultancy firm Shift Porter Novelli Colombia conducted an analysis to understand the influence that digital behaviors and trends have had on the president’s reputation during his two years at the head of the Casa de Nariño. To do so, the mentions made around his username (@petrogustavo) were analyzed. from August 2, 2023 to August 1, 2024.

It should be noted that the exercise It does not intend to qualify, support or reject President Petro’s management.but rather serve as a thermometer to raise awareness about the use of data.

According to the report, over that period, the head of state obtained a total of 91.9 million interactionsmeaning that Internet users reacted, shared and commented on her posts. Added to this figure is a total of 17.8 million searches related to her account, which to date has nearly 7.6 million followers.

Now, the data shows that during his second year in office the negative feeling of
Their profile on X increased reaching 45.3%which translates into an increase of 6.5 percentage points compared to the result of the first year (38.8%). In parallel, the positive perception fell from 15.9% to 7.8%, which reflects a growing disapproval and a decrease in support for his management on this social network.

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The most impactful topics

The Shift Porter Novelli report also examined What were the peaks of searches and interactions during the last year? about President Petro’s posts, as well as the reach and sentiment that these generated in users.

Among the issues that stand out are accusations of corruption and criminal activity in relation to the Prosecutor’s Office and the presidential campaign. This situation in particular saw greater movement in February of this year, when several government supporters showed their support using the hashtag #SOSGolpeDeEstado.

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Gustavo Petro and Javier Milei.

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Other points that draw attention are those associated with the demonstrations against the Petro administration, which reached their peak in April 2024. A month later, the most talked about topics were the marches in support of the Executive with the hashtag #LeMarchoAlCambio, within the framework of Labor Day, and the rejection by opponents of the reforms of the Petro government.

This list also includes some situations that contributed to fueling the feeling of discontent against the president’s profile, including the tension between him and his Argentine counterpart, Javier Milei, and Petro’s stance on the presidential elections in Venezuela.

Along the same lines, the report presented a classification of the most talked about topics related to the Colombian president. In order, These were the ones that had the most impact on the digital conversation: demonstrations against the Government (4.3 million); loss of the Pan American Games (3.3 million); breakdown of relations between Colombia and Israel (2.1 million), pro-Government marches (1.3 million), and the announcement of the new pension reform (1.1 million).

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