After decades of television influence, image and audiovisual language have become central elements of political communication. The irruption of social media has further invigorated the strategic use of video, by allowing the autonomous dissemination of content and a closer approach to citizens. Our objective is to analyze the management of video on social networks as an electoral tool from a novel multiplatform approach. Based on a model of content analysis, the format and degree of spectacularization of the videos are reviewed, and partisan strategies are compared. The sample is made up of 2,566 campaign videos published on the Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube accounts of the five most voted state parties in the general elections of November 2019: PSOE, PP, VOX, Podemos and Ciudadanos. The results show the appearance of new formats such as the digital spot and a strategic diffusion differentiated by platforms. Spectacularization is manifested, above all, in the bet on the personalization of the leader, to whom professional attributes are assigned.

The spectacularization of politics is not the exclusive patrimony of the media in their news coverage. Leaders from all over the world have successfully incorporated this “communicative style” into their own strategies, a style that finds a suitable space in visual social networks such as Instagram, in dynamic formats such as video, and in crisis contexts. This article analyzes the “spectacularization” of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s through Instagram. The methodological proposal is based on the study of the 5W in relation to the digital image and investigates the leading role, the staging, the space, and the technical resources of the videos. Thus, a content analysis is applied to a sample of 143 videos published by the president on his official profile in February–March 2022, when the conflict between Russia and Ukraine began, and in September–October 2022. We observed that Zelensky uses video in an intense and “spectacular” way: He exploits his figure in a professional style, strategically combines careful staging with amateurism, and uses resources such as subtitles to internationalize his discourse.