Abstract
The rapid growth of social media has transformed political communication, allowing politicians to connect directly with citizens and shape their public identities beyond traditional media. This change is particularly meaningful for women, who have historically faced barriers to political visibility and representation. This qualitative study examines how women politicians use social media to build political influence in the digital economy, focusing on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the United States and Mahua Moitra in India. Using a comparative case-study approach, the study draws on publicly available social media content, political speeches, interviews, media reports, and academic literature. Guided by perspectives on network society, participatory culture, alternative public spheres, platformisation, and feminist media, the study explores their communication strategies, audience engagement, political visibility, and online challenges. The findings suggest that authenticity, direct communication, emotional expression, visual storytelling, and strong rhetorical skills play an important role in building digital political influence. At the same time, greater visibility exposes women politicians to misogyny, trolling, personal attacks, misinformation, and gendered scrutiny. The study concludes that social media offers women new opportunities for political participation and influence, while simultaneously reproducing existing inequalities in new digital forms.
Keywords
References
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