Non-political actors and their role in promoting narratives through visual communication

Abstract

Social media take an active role in the development of public policy, where non-political actors are becoming increasingly significant. The uniqueness of the digital architecture and algorithms of social networks establishes certain rules of communication. YouTube, as a leading visual platform, plays a key role in sharing information and shaping political trends. Therefore, both political and non-political actors use this platform to influence public policy, promoting certain narratives that can both support the official government policy and form a counter-discourse against it.
This study analyzes video content on YouTube. Through the investigation of comments, an attempt is made to promote narratives by non-political actors who take an active part in public policy. A two-level model is proposed, based on video text and linguistic text. The research is based on the analysis of semantic and emotional components, using AI to identify key hidden themes. An analysis of the emotional valence of user comments on videos is conducted. The results of the study highlight the effectiveness of comments, which affects the promotion of videos on YouTube, as well as the promotion of threatening narratives. Through channel moderation, a certain context is formed, which creates a distorted reality for the viewers.
Such practice expands the opportunities for non-political actors in the public space, who skillfully use digital tools. As a result, their narratives spread beyond the Internet space. In the context of a large-scale war in Ukraine, where information is also a weapon, the general principles of informational objectivity and responsibility need to be rethought and rebooted.