The Use of Twitter by Congressional Campaigns Open Access
Macdonald, Mary (Summer 2020)
Abstract
Who do politicians speak to when they post on social media sites such as Twitter? The extant literature theorizes that these platforms are a democratizing space, where candidates for Congress provide information directly to the public and the public respond. I evaluate this claim using interviews with congressional candidates and staff, descriptive trends in Twitter follows and connections, as well as the content of tweets. I find no evidence that Twitter enhances the democratic connection between elected officials and their constituents. Rather, Twitter is used by congressional campaigns as a tool to communicate to fellow elites to gain offline benefits.
Table of Contents
Introduction Public Communication in Congressional Campaigns Tweets as Strategic Signals Twitter Data Collection & Descriptive Trends Changing Audiences, Changing Messages? Money Please! Testing the Interest Group Connection Conclusions: Re-Visiting Tweets as Strategic Signals
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The Use of Twitter by Congressional Campaigns () | 2020-08-07 15:19:51 -0400 |
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