Visual War: A Content Analysis of Clinton and Trump Subreddits During the 2016 Campaign

Abstract

U.S. political party genderization (Republicans as masculine; Democrats as feminine) is well-documented in research. To determine if Hillary Clinton may have disrupted these patterns as the first female major-party presidential nominee, Reddit posts during the 2016 election campaign were analyzed. Most studies focus on professional news or candidate self-presentations concocted by image handlers. We departed from this tradition, focusing on (a) gender qualities that Redditors assign to candidates on this platform and (b) statistical tracking of these patterns over time. The results provide insight into how the electorate presented the two candidates and Donald Trump’s largely unexpected victory.

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