The campaign in numbers
Highlights from the aggregate data for the whole period from 24 June to 8 November 2026.
Campaign curve
Daily count by publication date. Candidates for regional governor compared with candidates for city mayor.
Where discussion is most intense
Average number of comments per candidate post by region (regional and city elections combined). Whole period since 24 June 2026.
Facebook or Instagram
Share of posts and comments by network. Whole period since 24 June 2026.
Moderation and edits
Discussions keep changing after they start. We tracked how often. Whole period since 24 June 2026.
When candidates post
Number of posts by day of the week and hour. A stronger colour means more posts. Whole period since 24 June 2026.
Tone of discussion
Simple counts, without assessing the content of comments. Whole period since 24 June 2026.
Your feedback
Is the barometer useful? Is something missing, or have you found an error? Write to us. Only the research team reads the feedback; we do not publish it.
Research results
We completed data collection on 8 November 2026. The figures on this page are final. We are now analysing the data and preparing the results for publication in academic journals. Links to the published articles will be added here.
About the research
What we study. How female and male candidates in regional and municipal elections are talked about in online discussions: whether the focus is more on their competence, personal qualities or appearance, how often insults and hate speech appear, and whether gender stereotypes are present. We build on international research and transfer it to the Slovak context. In 2027 we also plan to follow the elections to the National Council of the Slovak Republic.
How. From 24 June to 8 November 2026 we monitored the public profiles of candidates for the presidency of self-governing regions (regional governors) and for city mayor on Facebook and Instagram. We recorded their public posts and the comments below them several times a day, including later edits and deletions.
Privacy. We do not store the names of commenters; we replace them with a random code. On this website we only publish aggregate figures for the whole data collection period. We do not evaluate individual candidates or parties.
Research team
Mgr. Andrej Kóňa, PhD.
Institute of Political Science and Public Administration, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava
Smart cities and local government, digital readiness, public policy. Author of the Slovak Smart City Index.
doc. PhDr. Martin Švikruha, PhD.
Institute of Political Science and Public Administration, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava
Regional and local self-government, decentralisation, public administration.
- ORCID 0000-0001-8207-0122 (list of publications)
- Register of university staff (Slovakia)
- Give me liberty or give me money: The fiscal decentralization and autonomy of regional governance in Slovakia (2019)
- National and state interests of Slovaks and Catalans (2021)
- Monograph 20 rokov regionálnej samosprávy na Slovensku: Využitá príležitosť? [20 years of regional self-government in Slovakia: An opportunity seized?] (UCM, 2021)
Visitor privacy
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Research data from social media (comments) are pseudonymised and are published on this website only as aggregate figures; see About the research.