Cringe - Emotional manipulation as a tool of political control in Albanian digital campaigns (2025)

This comprehensive research dataset examines the strategic use of "cringe" and awkwardness in Albanian political communication during the 2025 parliamentary elections. Through mixed-methods analysis of 3,247 social media posts, 1,856 videos, and 2,156 memes, this study documents a radical transformation in political discourse where traditional policy-based communication (27%) was overwhelmed by cringe-based content (73%).

Key findings include:

• Perfect correlation (r = 1.000) between cringe intensity and electoral success
• Identification of six strategic cringe tactics used by politicians
• Discovery of 58 anonymous pages using artificial amplification (ratios up to 396:1)
• Evidence of cringe functioning as affective governance and social control

Dataset contents:

• Full research paper (English & Albanian versions)
• Interactive data visualizations and statistical analysis
• Comprehensive emotions lexicon for cringe phenomenon
• Detailed supplementary materials with coded examples
• Methodology documentation and ethics compliance records

Methodology: Mixed-methods approach combining computational analysis with qualitative discourse analysis. Machine learning algorithms used for sentiment analysis and bot detection. All personal data processed in compliance with EU GDPR regulations.

This research contributes to understanding how digital platforms enable new forms of political manipulation with broader implications for democratic discourse quality and electoral integrity.

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