ANALYSIS OF TWITTER HANDLES OF PAKISTAN'S PROMINENT POLITICAL PARTY LEADERS AFTER THE MAY 9 INCIDENTS

Abstract

The present study investigates how Pakistan's prominent political parties responded on Twitter following the May 9, 2023, events in Pakistan, which evoked enormous protests and political unrest. The research analyzes the tone, messaging, and interaction trend of tweets by three prominent political leaders: Imran Khan (Leader-I, PTI), Maryam Nawaz Sharif (Leader-II, PML-N) and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari (Leader-III, PPP). The research uses content analysis as its primary approach, categorizing the tweets as according to the content variations such as news, updates, and official statement. The study also analyses the language (formal or informal) and tone (positive, neutral, or negative) of the tweets. The research concludes that Leader-I (PTI) received significant popular support and attention and attempted to justify the events to some extent, and his tone throughout the incidents was found to be largely negative, while Leader-II (PML-N) made a calculated response and condemned the incidents, her tone in the tweets is notably negative. Leader-III (PPP), on the other hand, preferred to focus on keeping politics active rather than confronting the issue at hand. This study offers useful insights into how Pakistani political leaders used twitter to manage a national crisis and influence public perceptions.