Political leadership in the digital age: an analysis of the use of Twitter by Pope Francisco (@Pontifex)

The use of social networks by personalities and celebrities is a growing interest in science. This article discusses the use of Twitter by Pope Francisco, chosen as supreme pontiff of the Catholic Church in 2013. Using an ad hoc qualitative and quantitative measurement method, the tweets published between March 2013 and April 2016 (1132 days) were counted and analysed. There has been a change in the communication style of the Pope on Twitter. Shorter and more direct sentences are used, following a more innovative style of social and political leadership, in which the Pope tries to empathize with his followers.