A YouTube grandpa, a columnist or a hatemonger? Jerzy Urban’s image on Twitter

Abstract

The aim of the article is to analyse Jerzy Urban’s image on Twitter. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used for the purpose of the article. The analysis of contents served as the main tool. The Twitonomy tool was used to support the process of analysis. The author discusses Jerzy Urban’s persona and references the editor-in-chief of Nie weekly magazine – closely connected to traditional media (printed press) in the Internet world – by describing his online „second life”. She also provides an analysis of his online image. The starting point of the analysis was a discussion which took place on Twitter after the death of Jerzy Urban. Some Internet users said goodbye to „an outstanding columnist” while others to „a repulsive servant of a criminal system”. The author decided to check which image of the journalist is prevalent in the microblogging environment. The analysis of tweets has shown that the way Twitter users perceive Jerzy Urban is inconclusive. Numerous extreme statements were used to describe the editor-in-chief of Nie – from a positive „phenomenon” through a neutral „columnist” to „a communist criminal”. The material analysed by the author presents a mostly negative image of Urban. He was a controversial, emotive figure and his perception largely depends on the generation to which we belong.