No 13, Issue 2       

FRAGMENTED PUBLICS: ECHO CHAMBERS, INFORMATION BUBBLES, AND ELECTORAL MOBILIZATION IN ROMANIA’S 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

Raluca LUȚAI

Abstract

The rapid transformation of the digital media environment has reshaped contemporary political communication, contributing to the fragmentation of the public sphere and the emergence of new forms of electoral mobilization. This article examines the interaction between information bubbles, echo chambers, and political microtargeting, emphasizing how algorithmic personalization and online social dynamics reinforce informational isolation and polarization.

Using Romania’s 2024 presidential elections as a short case study, the paper explores the informational conditions that facilitated the mobilization of a non-mainstream candidate within a highly fragmented media ecosystem. The study does not assume direct causal relationships but highlights how political communication increasingly takes place in homogeneous online communities, largely disconnected from traditional media and conventional monitoring tools. The findings suggest that electoral surprises can be understood as outcomes of parallel information spaces and personalized political communication, raising important questions about transparency, deliberation, and democratic accountability in the digital age.

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Keywords: echo chambers, information bubbles, electoral mobilization, digital political communication.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.