The international rise of populism has been attributed, in part, to digital media. These media allow the backers of populists to share and distribute information independent of traditional media organizations or elites and offer communication spaces in which they can support each other and strengthen communal ties irrespective of their societal standing. Can we identify these functions in distinct usage patterns of digital media by supporters of populists? This could find expression through posting content that comports with the central tenets of populist ideology, higher activity levels, use of distinct vocabularies, and heightened levels of community building. We investigate differences along these dimensions on the online forum Reddit by comparing linguistic patterns and content of comments in two subreddits focusing on a populist, Donald Trump (/r/The_Donald), and a center-left politician, Hillary Clinton (/r/hillaryclinton), during the 2016 U.S. presidential election campaign. Contributors to /r/The_Donald expressed more strongly parts of the populist ideological package, specifically anti-elitism and exclusionism, but failed to express people-centrism; used the platform more intensively; used vocabularies different than those used in other partisan publics; and engaged more strongly in community building.

民粹主义的国际兴起部分归因于数字媒体。这些媒体使民粹主义者的支持者可以独立于传统媒体组织或精英阶层共享和分发信息，并提供交流空间，无论他们的社会地位如何，他们都可以在彼此之间相互支持并加强社区联系。我们是否可以由民粹主义者的支持者以不同的数字媒体使用模式来识别这些功能？通过发布与民粹主义思想的中心宗旨，更高的活动水平，使用独特的词汇以及提高社区建设水平相称的内容，可以找到表达方式。我们在网上论坛Reddit上调查了这些方面的差异，方法是比较两个以民粹主义为主题的子Reddit中的语言模式和评论内容，在2016年美国总统大选期间，唐纳德·特朗普（/ r / The_Donald）和中左翼政客希拉里·克林顿（/ r / hillaryclinton）。/ r / The_Donald的撰稿人更加强烈地表达了民粹主义思想体系的一部分，特别是反精英主义和排斥主义，但未能表达以人为中心的思想。更集中地使用平台；使用的词汇不同于其他游击队公众使用的词汇；并更加积极地参与社区建设。使用的词汇不同于其他游击队公众使用的词汇；并更加积极地参与社区建设。使用的词汇不同于其他游击队公众使用的词汇；并更加积极地参与社区建设。