Social Media: New Technology Strengthening Democratic Communication? A Comparative Study of Facebook and Twitter Usage in 28 European Countries During the 2014 European Parliamentary Election Campaign
Authors: Lilleker, D., Koc-Michalska, K. and Zajac, J.
Conference: The 65th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association
Dates: 21-25 May 2015
Abstract:The study is based on the data from social network communication of 363 parties acroos 28 EU countries during 2014 EP elections. It will be the first to gather data that allows us to detect patterns of participation within and potentially across nations, but in particular within nations and across parties to determine the extent that visitors use social media to promote parties (through liking and sharing) or for entering comments on party posts or for entering into discussions with other visitors. We specifically seek to understand whether we can detect evidence of a political ecosystem in which visitors visit multiple party profiles, enter debates across differing profiles and so contribute to something that might resemble an informed and engaged public sphere.
Source: Manual