This master’s thesis aims to determine the causes of success of the leading German, Dutch and British social-democratic parties’ pages on SNS in order to establish a political communications strategy efficiently bypassing the journalists’ gate and attracting new voters. It combines an explorative content-analysis with a web-based survey among the pages’ users (n=448). The opportunities and drawbacks of politics on SNS are evaluated based on general political communication goals, politicians’ intentions and in light of normative societal expectation. Findings reveal that the pages are primarily populated by party followers; party preference accounts for a large share of success. Results from multiple regression analyses are line with impressions from content-analysis showing that next to non-page related determinants the pages interactivity and authenticity significantly predict success on SNS. A final outlook elaborates on two possible scenarios proposing either rededicating parties’ pages to tools of internal communication or significant improvements in order to make better use of SNS’ potentials for political communication.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Literature Review
Politics-audience relations and the role of the Internet
SNS and political participation: Benefits
SNS and political participation: Drawbacks
Politicians strategies on SNS
Success of political communication on SNS
Activity & Evaluation
Media & Political performance
What makes a party’s page on SNS a successful one? (RQ 1)
Party preference and identification, activity on SNS & political engagement.
Design & authenticity.
To what extent are the parties’ pages able to attract users in general and non-partisans in particular? (RQ 1.1)
To what extent do national characteristics in party system and SNS usage influence the success of political communication on SNS? (RQ 2)
Conceptual Model
Methods
Sample
Measures - Content-Analysis
Measures – Survey
Party preference, party identification & country.
Political engagement.
Activity on sns & on the page.
Perceived quality of the pages.
Evaluation.
Media & political performance.
Results
Content Analysis
Survey
Preparing data.
Characteristics of the users.
Multiple regression analyses – aggregated data.
Activity on the page.
Evaluation of the page.
Media & political performance.
Multiple regression analyses - country by country.
Discussion & Conclusion
Impressions from content-analysis
Partisans populating the pages
Dominating design and authenticity
Country less important
Implications
Limitations
Recommendations for future research
Objectives & Key Themes
This master's thesis investigates the drivers of success for political social-democratic parties' Facebook pages in Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK. It aims to determine how political actors can effectively use social networking sites to bypass traditional media gatekeepers, engage citizens, and attract new voters by analyzing both page-level interactivity and user-level characteristics.
- The impact of party preference and partisan habits on SNS interaction.
- The role of interactivity, design, and authenticity as determinants of perceived page quality.
- Cross-national differences in SNS penetration and their influence on communication performance.
- The tension between politicians' expectations for online outreach and the reality of SNS as a partisan-dominated echo chamber.
- Strategies for future SNS usage, including internal party communication versus external campaigning.
Excerpt from the Book
SNS and political participation: Drawbacks
The main issue of politics on SNS deals with the phenomena of users partisan habits (Marshall, 2010). Findings from Denmark illustrate: Facebook pages of local politicians are predominantly used by individuals replicating their offline party preferences (Andersen & Medaglia, 2009). This observation is in line with research investigating content of political discourse on SNS on a larger scale: 73 per cent of users posting political content are active in groups of politically likeminded users (Kushin & Kitchener, 2009). Disagreement with other’s political posts is usually not being articulated (Rainie & Smith, 2012). Discussions breaking political leanings are rare and avoidance of counterattitudinal messages is indicated.
These findings are relevant from both the societal and the political actors’ perspective. As Bennet and Iyengar (2008) warn, the implications of the trend towards strengthening selective exposure are manifold: the free marketplace of ideas as a basis of democratic discourse is threatened, which reduces plurality and fosters extremes (Bennet & Iyengar, 2008; Lazarsfeld, Berelson, & Gaudet, 1948). From the political actor’s view (which will be specified in the following) a Facebook page needs to attract users with diverse political preferences to convince new voters. Therefore, the main flaw of politics on SNS as elaborated in this paragraph is suggested to endanger democracies in general and limit the benefits of pages for politicians.
Summary of Chapters
Introduction: Provides the research scope, outlining the shift from traditional media to SNS for bypassing gatekeepers and the specific cross-national focus on social-democratic parties.
Literature Review: Examines the theoretical foundation of politics-audience relations, the perceived benefits and drawbacks of SNS participation, and indicators of success such as media performance and credibility.
Conceptual Model: Illustrates the theoretical relationships between independent variables like activity and quality, and dependent variables like page evaluation and performance.
Methods: Details the mixed-methods research design, combining explorative content analysis with a cross-national web-based survey to ensure reliability and validity.
Results: Presents empirical data on user behavior, page engagement rates, and regression analyses testing the influence of party preference, authenticity, and design.
Discussion & Conclusion: Synthesizes findings, confirming that partisan habits dominate SNS pages, limiting the ability to reach non-partisans, and proposes strategies for internal communication or improved outreach.
Keywords
Political communication, Social Networking Sites, Facebook, social-democratic parties, partisanship, selective exposure, digital campaign strategy, interactivity, authenticity, political engagement, cross-national comparison, media performance, online participation, gatekeeping, web 2.0
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research?
The thesis focuses on determining the factors that drive the success of social-democratic parties' Facebook pages in Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, specifically regarding their ability to attract new voters and bypass traditional media gatekeepers.
What are the primary themes discussed?
The study covers the impact of partisan habits on digital discourse, the effectiveness of political marketing strategies on SNS, and the influence of national differences in party systems and social media usage.
What is the main research question?
The primary research question asks what determines the success of a party's page on SNS, specifically: what must administrators do to achieve high ratings in media and political performance, user engagement, and positive evaluation?
Which research methods were employed?
The author utilized a mixed-methods approach, combining an explorative content analysis of Facebook posts with a web-based survey of 448 users across the three countries.
What does the main body of the work cover?
The body covers a literature review on online politics, the definition of success in political communication, a detailed operationalization of variables, the presentation of results from multiple regression analyses, and a final critical discussion on future strategies.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
Key terms include political communication, Social Networking Sites (SNS), digital campaign strategy, partisan bias, online political engagement, and media performance.
Did the study confirm that Facebook pages successfully attract new, non-partisan voters?
No, the findings reveal that the pages are overwhelmingly populated by existing party followers, indicating that the goal of using these platforms to attract significant numbers of new, non-partisan voters was not achieved.
How does the author characterize the 'best case' among the parties studied?
The UK Labour Party is identified as the 'best case' in terms of reach and ability to interact with the electorate, although its high success is contrasted by a low growth rate, suggesting market saturation.
What are the implications for party strategists suggested in the conclusion?
The author suggests that parties should either pivot their SNS pages toward internal party organization and deliberation, as the audience is already highly partisan, or drastically improve their content strategy to be more authentic and less reliant on posting repetitive links.
- Citation du texte
- Alexander Otto (Auteur), 2012, Success of political communication on social networking sites, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/200755
