1 How to cite? Casero-Ripollés, A., Alonso-Muñoz, L., & Marcos-García, S. (2021). The Influence of Political Actors in the Digital Public Debate on Twitter About the Negotiations for the Formation of the Government in Spain. American Behavioral Scientist, https://doi.org/10.1177/00027642211003159 The Influence of Political Actors in the Digital Public Debate on Twitter about the Negotiations for the Formation of the Government in Spain Andreu Casero-Ripollés, Full Professor, Department of Communication Sciences. Universitat Jaume I de Castelló, casero@uji.es Laura Alonso-Muñoz, Assistant Professor, Department of Communication Sciences. Universitat Jaume I de Castelló, lalonso@uji.es Silvia Marcos-García, Assistant Professor, Department of Communication Sciences. Universitat Jaume I de Castelló, smarcos@uji.es Abstract Social media has introduced new parameters that can potentially transform the digital political conversation. Traditionally, in the age of mass communication, public debate was dominated by politicians and journalists. However, digital platforms, primarily Twitter, have allowed other social actors to join the political discussion, trying to influence it. The objective of this research is to establish what factors enable the authority and digital influence of political actors in the public debate on Twitter. We use a big data sample of 127.3 million tweets from the negotiation process around the formation of the Government in Spain. The applied methodology is based on social network analysis and machine learning. The results show that ideology, political initiative, and political career are configured as factors capable of conditioning the authority and influence of political actors in the political conversation on Twitter. Keywords: Political Communication, Social Influence, Social Media, Digital Media, Twitter, Political Conversation. 1. Introduction Social media are generating new spaces for public debate. Its growing presence in our society is causing citizens to transfer many of their activities to the digital environment, including political conversation. Its facility to promote connectivity and promote communication flows is generating relevant transformations in political communication. One of the key questions is whether social media can alter the power relations from the mass communication era. During the second half of the 20th century, political actors were decisive actors in determining the issues, contents, and limits of public debate in conjunction with journalists (Habermas, 2006). That made them great influencers, endowed with the ability to persuade citizens and condition public opinion (McCombs & Valenzuela, 2020). However, the rise of social media is reconfiguring its position. In this context, it is important to identify the factors that determine and condition the influence and digital authority of politicians in the public debate developed on this digital platform. To do this,