@article{article_1606256, title={DIGITAL POLITICAL COMMUNICATION AND TIKTOK: SENTIMENT ANALYSIS OF USER COMMENTS IN THE 2024 US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION}, journal={İnönü Üniversitesi İletişim Fakültesi Elektronik Dergisi (İNİF E-Dergi)}, volume={10}, pages={216–230}, year={2025}, DOI={10.47107/inifedergi.1606256}, author={Demirel, Yaren and Ağca, Mahmut Enes}, keywords={Digital political communication, sentiment analysis, TikTok, Donald Trump, Kamala Harris.}, abstract={Political communication can be defined as strategic communication with the aim of influencing the perceptions and attitudes of the target audience. Voters need information about the candidates they intend to support and election campaigns allow voters to share their opinions, suggestions and thoughts with politicians. During these periods, political parties tend to use mass media and digital media to provide voters with the information they may need. Today, TikTok as an important platform in the digital political communication process, it plays a critical role for politicians to interact with the target audience and shape public perception. This role also attracted attention during the United States of America (USA) presidential elections held on November 5, 2024. In this context, in this study, which focuses on the digital political communication process in the 2024 US presidential elections, the emotional distribution of public perception towards the Republican Party candidate Donald Trump and Democratic Party candidate Kamala Harris, who competed in the election, was analyzed through the sentiment analysis method based on the comments made on the TikTok posts of the candidates. According to the research findings, comments on Donald Trump’s posts are characterized by a positive emotional tone. However, deeper and more lasting interactions, such as feelings of support and loyalty and social/contextual comments, were observed to be limited. Although the comments on Kamala Harris are largely positive, the low level of loyalty and commitment of her supporters is noteworthy. As a noteworthy finding, it was observed that Trump supporters were more likely to comment with loyalty and commitment than Kamala Harris supporters. In conclusion, the social media interactions of both candidates provide a view of the emotional states of their supporters and how they interact in the social context.}, number={1}, publisher={Inonu University}