Elite tweets: Analyzing the twitter communication patterns of Labour party peers in the House of Lords

Authors: Adi, A., Erickson, K. and Lilleker, D.G.

Journal: Policy and Internet

Volume: 6

Issue: 1

Pages: 1-27

eISSN: 1944-2866

DOI: 10.1002/1944-2866.POI350

Abstract:

The microblogging platform Twitter has gained notoriety for its status as both a communication channel between private individuals and as a public forum monitored by journalists, the public, and the state. Its potential application for political communication has not gone unnoticed; politicians have used Twitter to attract voters, interact with constituencies and advance issue-based campaigns. This article reports findings from the research team's work with 21 peers sitting on the Labour frontbench. The researchers monitored and archived the peers' activity on Twitter for a period of 3 months between June and September 2012. Using a sample of 4,363 tweets and a mixed methodology combining semantic analysis, social network analysis, and quantitative analysis, this article explores the peers' patterns of usage and communication on Twitter. Key findings are that as a tweeting community their behavior is consistent with other communities. However, there is evidence that a coherent strategy is lacking in their coordinated use of the platform. Labour peers tend to work in small, clustered networks of self-interest as opposed to collectively to promote party policy. © 2014 Policy Studies Organization.

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/21115/

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/21283/

Source: Scopus

Elite Tweets: Analysing the Twitter Communication Patterns of Labour Party Peers in the House of Lords

Authors: Lilleker, D., Adi, A. and Erickson, K.

Conference: IAMCR 2013: Crises, ‘Creative Destruction’ and the Global Power and Communication Orders

Dates: 25-29 June 2013

Publisher: Policy and Internet

Abstract:

The micro-blogging platform Twitter has gained notoriety for its status as both a communication channel between private individuals, and as a public forum monitored by journalists, the public, and the state. Its potential application for political communication has not gone unnoticed; politicians have used Twitter to attract voters, interact with constituencies and advance issue-based campaigns. This article reports on the preliminary results of the research team’s work with 21 peers sitting on the Labour frontbench. It is based on the monitoring and archival of the peers’ activity on Twitter for a period of 100 days from 16th May to 28th September 2012. Using a sample of more than 4,363 tweets and a mixed methodology combining semantic analysis, social network analysis and quantitative analysis, this paper explores the peers’ patterns of usage and communication on Twitter. Key findings are that as a tweeting community their behavior is consistent with others, however there is evidence that a coherent strategy is lacking. Labour peers tend to work in ego networks of self-interest as opposed to working together to promote party policy

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/21115/

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/21283/

http://www.iamcr2013dublin.org/

Source: Manual

Preferred by: Darren Lilleker

Elite Tweets: Analyzing the Twitter Communication Patterns of Labour Party Peers in the House of Lord

Authors: Adi, A., Erickson, K. and Lilleker, D.

Journal: Policy & Internet

Volume: 6

Issue: 1

Pages: 1-27

ISSN: 1944-2866

Abstract:

The microblogging platform Twitter has gained notoriety for its status as both a communication channel between private individuals and as a public forum monitored by journalists, the public, and the state. Its potential application for political communication has not gone unnoticed; politicians have used Twitter to attract voters, interact with constituencies and advance issue-based campaigns. This article reports findings from the research team's work with 21 peers sitting on the Labour frontbench. The researchers monitored and archived the peers' activity on Twitter for a period of 3 months between June and September 2012. Using a sample of 4,363 tweets and a mixed methodology combining semantic analysis, social network analysis, and quantitative analysis, this article explores the peers' patterns of usage and communication on Twitter. Key findings are that as a tweeting community their behavior is consistent with other communities. However, there is evidence that a coherent strategy is lacking in their coordinated use of the platform. Labour peers tend to work in small, clustered networks of self-interest as opposed to collectively to promote party policy.

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/21115/

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/21283/

Source: BURO EPrints

Elite Tweets: Analysing the Twitter Communication Patterns of Labour Party Peers in the House of Lords

Authors: Lilleker, D., Adi, A. and Erickson, K.

Conference: IAMCR 2013: Crises, ‘Creative Destruction’ and the Global Power and Communication Orders

Publisher: Policy and Internet

Abstract:

The micro-blogging platform Twitter has gained notoriety for its status as both a communication channel between private individuals, and as a public forum monitored by journalists, the public, and the state. Its potential application for political communication has not gone unnoticed; politicians have used Twitter to attract voters, interact with constituencies and advance issue-based campaigns. This article reports on the preliminary results of the research team’s work with 21 peers sitting on the Labour frontbench. It is based on the monitoring and archival of the peers’ activity on Twitter for a period of 100 days from 16th May to 28th September 2012. Using a sample of more than 4,363 tweets and a mixed methodology combining semantic analysis, social network analysis and quantitative analysis, this paper explores the peers’ patterns of usage and communication on Twitter. Key findings are that as a tweeting community their behavior is consistent with others, however there is evidence that a coherent strategy is lacking. Labour peers tend to work in ego networks of self-interest as opposed to working together to promote party policy

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/21115/

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/21283/

http://www.iamcr2013dublin.org/

Source: BURO EPrints