Online political videos as campaign weapons. Content and virality of the “Ridicule TV” YouTube account in the 2017 French presidential election

The “Ridicule TV” YouTube account provides the first case of a sustained negative campaigning device in a French presidential election. It includes tens of contents which are humor oriented and intended to make the audience laugh rather than think. This device is unofficially related to the François Fillon’ conservative campaign and published 59 videos most of them targeting the center right rival candidate and future winner Emmanuel Macron. This innovative approach of political communication aims at getting a viral online spreading fueled by the audience’s pleasure rather than its political agreement. On the one hand, we conduct a content analysis of the videos in order to substantiate how they prompt users to distrust the targeted opponent. On the other hand, we consider how each video performs across various key indicators (views, engagement) in order to explain which discursive features are the most probable triggers of such performances. We can therefore interpret and discuss to what extent the actual content complies with its strategic purpose as a digital (negative) campaigning device.