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Abstract

This dissertation is based on a theoretical perspective based on Niklas Luhmann's Theory of Systems, oriented to the digitized society, to describe the communicational dynamics of meaning-building in the social interactions mediated by the digital media platform Twitter, in relation to the event of the "facada" (“stabbing”) suffered by, at the time candidate for the presidency of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, according to the investigative capacities demonstrated by the proposed method, of an "Online Cultural Network Analysis". In this sense, under a proposal related to the subfield of the Digital Sociology, this dissertation focus on two different dimensions. The first one corresponds to the instability that characterizes the communication of contemporary society, contextualized by the increasing digitalization of social relations, as seen in the interactions mediated by Twitter about the “facada” ("stabbing") in Jair Bolsonaro. The second is to appraise the investigative relevance of the method proposed for this research, according to the proficiency shown to observe social interactions mediated by Twitter, under a theoretical-epistemological lens linked to the idea of "complexity". More precisely, it is intended to describe, comparatively, the meanings produced in significant amounts of Twitter interactions, verified in three distinct temporal lapses, according to what the Online Cultural Network Analysis method allows to observe. In this way, the evolutionary dynamics of the meanings produced in Twitter interactions are described, according to the three temporal lapses analyzed, as, over time, certain meanings emerge, while others disappear. Considering the recent intensification of phenomena related to disinformation, such as fake news and post-truth, it is observed that, in the face of the advent of digital media, the communication (constitution) of a digitized society presupposes a paradigmatic transformation, linked to the difference, the contingency and, therefore, the semantic volatility that characterizes the complexity of the world.