Bibi and Mr. Prime Minister: do different Facebook identities imply different messages for political leaders?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gal Yavetz

PurposeSocial media has been widely adopted by politicians and political parties during elections and routine times and has been discussed before. However, research in the field has so far not addressed how a political leader's private or official social media account affects their message, language and style. The current study examined how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu uses his private Facebook account, compared to his use of his official Facebook page “Prime Minister of Israel.”Design/methodology/approachIn this study, the author identified the differences between these two digital entities using in-depth content analysis based on all posts (N = 1,484) published on the two pages over a 12-month period between 2018 and 2019.FindingsThe study’s findings indicate that Netanyahu regularly uses his personal page to address topics that are not represented on his official page, such as mentioning and attacking political rivals, presenting political agenda, and criticizing Israeli journalists and media organizations. Netanyahu's private Facebook account is also used to comment on personal events such as the criminal indictments he is facing and family affairs.Originality/valueThe findings highlight the need to investigate the different identities that politicians maintain on social media when they use personal or official accounts, sometimes on the same platform. The medium matters, yet the author also discovered that a leader's choice of account and its title are also important.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-01-2021-0004.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chern Li Liew

PurposeAmong the current discourses around social media risk management (SMRM) is whether institutions perceive social media (SM) as more of an opportunity to be embraced and regulated, or a risk to be avoided or mitigated, how this is reflected in their policies and how institutional stance reflects their regulation and management of SM use and practices. There is currently no scholarly literature that addresses these for the memory sector where SM use has proliferated. This research aims to address this gap by putting a focus on national memory institutions (MIs), whose strategies and operations are often governed by a public/civic mandate.Design/methodology/approachThis research involves a comprehensive literature review and a content analysis. The review includes studies that have analysed institutional SM policies in other sectors. The review informs our content analysis both in terms of approaches and in terms of identifying areas for comparisons. Following an initial scoping review and a close inspection, a sample of eight policies of national MIs were included in the content analysis.FindingsThe content analysis led to the identification of 8 core themes and 36 sub-themes. The main themes are concerned with account management, audience management, rules for use, protecting institutional interests, legal considerations, the purpose of the policy, nature of postings and referencing information. Also emerged from the findings are a few gaps that we expect will provide a platform for further discourses with regard to the potentially complex role SM policies have in MIs and the broader cultural heritage sector in relation to their public/civic mandates.Originality/valueThis is the first close SM policy analysis for the memory sector focusing on national MIs. This research contributes insights into how national-level MIs tend to frame the opportunities and the risk of SM use, the ways in which they govern SM usage and their different approaches to SMRM. The findings have implications for SM policy development and implementations, and further iterations of SM policies in the memory sector.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-09-2020-0421


2017 ◽  
Vol 69 (6) ◽  
pp. 660-673 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anjan Pal ◽  
Alton Y.K. Chua ◽  
Dion Hoe-Lian Goh

Purpose In the wake of a rumor outbreak, individuals exchange three types of messages: rumor messages, counter-rumor messages, and uncertainty-expressing messages. However, the properties of the three types of messages are relatively unknown particularly in the social media context. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to examine these three types of messages posted on social media in the wake of a rumor outbreak. Design/methodology/approach Data included tweets posted after the outbreak of a rumor that wrongly accused the fast food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) for selling rats instead of chicken. Using a deductive approach, codes were derived via content analysis on the tweets. Volume and exposure of tweets were also examined. Findings Counter-rumor tweets (52 percent) outnumbered rumors tweets (32 percent) and uncertainty-expressing tweets (16 percent). Emotions and personal involvement were abundant in rumor tweets. Expressions of credence and references to URLs were high in counter-rumor tweets. Social ties were found widely in uncertainty-expressing tweets. The high volume and exposure of counter-rumor tweets compared with those of either rumor tweets or uncertainty-expressing tweets highlight the potential of counter-rumors to mitigate rumors. Originality/value This research ventures into a relatively unexplored territory by concurrently examining rumor messages, counter-rumor messages and uncertainty-expressing messages in the wake of a rumor outbreak. It reveals that counter-rumor messages have the potential to mitigate rumors on social media.


2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sumeer Gul ◽  
Tariq Ahmad Shah ◽  
Muzaffer Ahad ◽  
Mir Mubashir ◽  
Suhail Ahmad ◽  
...  

Purpose The study aims to showcase public sentiments via social media, Twitter, during 2014 floods of Jammu and Kashmir, India. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on content analysis of tweets related to Kashmir floods. Search was performed with “#kashmirfloods” and was confined to tweets posted from 4 September 2014 through 3 November 2014. A naturalistic approach was applied to examine the content and classify tweets into 5 major and 25 sub categories. Data as such collected were tabulated in SPSS 21 for analysis. Findings During the study period, individuals, news channels, and organisations posted a total of 36,697 tweets related to Kashmir floods. It all started with an outburst of tweets which goes on declining (exponentially) with every passing day. People express themselves in a number of ways with informational tweets used more during the time of disaster. Individuals expressing their sentiments outscore other types of sentiments with text-based tweets ranking high. About 44 per cent of tweets were retweeted, and nearly 31 per cent tweets were marked favourite. Comparatively, more number of informational and help tweets were retweeted or marked favourite. Contextual richness of tweet (i.e. number of embedded expressions) enhances its visibility by means of getting liked and/or retweeted. A statistically significant positive association is observed between the number of expressions in a tweet and the number of times it is liked (favourite) or retweeted. Research limitations/implications Twitter plays a pivotal role during natural calamities like Kashmir floods to connect people in the hour of need and help. It provides a platform where the plight of people is heard across the globe and which encourages people to unite and overcome hurdles together. Originality/value This study examines the sentiments of people expressed during Jammu and Kashmir (India) Floods 2014 on social media – Twitter.


Significance This follows former Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa’s announcement on March 29 of a new, non-ideological party that includes technocrats and former ministers -- the Alternative Party. Six years after the 2011 Arab uprisings, Tunisian politics is still in flux -- facing serious social and economic challenges. Impacts Protests and industrial strikes will continue in the months ahead as the government tries to reduce public spending. Political parties are losing the trust of the population. Further cabinet reshuffles are likely, but political leaders are wary of making bold structural reforms.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juraj Nemec

PurposeMost media evaluate Slovakia as the most successful European country in the fight against the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Such excellent results have been achieved in a really specific period – the change of the government overlapped the initial days of the outbreak of the pandemic in the country. The goal of this viewpoint paper is to investigate how individual public leaders (Prime Ministers) shaped the governance response, how these key political leaders have helped to make the transition to a new government so seamless in times of crisis.Design/methodology/approachQualitative approach is used to map the situation and to show how key political leaders shaped the governance response to the crisis. The official government COVID-19 web page and core national media were investigated to collect the necessary information for our research.FindingsThe most positive finding of this article is the fact that the departing Prime Minister Pellegrini did not decide to wait till the end of office in a passive or moderate way, but managed during last days of office of “his” government to realize a set of really comprehensive measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Slovakia. Politics has been set a bit aside; coalition and opposition parties prioritized the need to fight COVID-19 instead of the need for permanent political fights.Originality/valueThe article introduces the example of the political “takeover” during the crisis, which has been realized in such positive ways, especially thanks to the fact that Pellegrini behaved as a real national leader just a few days before leaving office.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norah Khalid Alsufyan ◽  
Monira Aloud

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the way that Saudi universities are engaging their audience via social media platforms by means of the five meaningful themes: visibility, branding, authenticity, commitment, and engagement. The study will answer the questions: how do Saudi universities exploit social media platforms to engage their target audience? What are the recommendations for Saudi universities toward maximizing the value of social media engagement? Design/methodology/approach A content analysis approach was used to study all Saudi universities (26 public, 11 private). Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter were the anticipated social media platforms in this study. Findings The results showed that Twitter is the most frequently used platform to communicate with audiences. While visibility in the anticipated social media platforms was high, the engagement was lacking. On the other hand, authenticity and branding in the anticipated social media platforms were medium, while commitment was low except on Twitter. In general, the private universities exceed the public universities in terms of visibility, branding, authenticity, commitment and engagement in the anticipated social media platforms, which indicates their attention on gaining their audience’s satisfaction, a dynamic of trust which will lead to maintaining current relationships or building new ones. Originality/value Since there are few studies in the field regarding social media platforms usage by Saudi universities, this study aims to understand how Saudi universities are utilizing social media platforms to engage their audiences and propose recommendations for how Saudi universities can build value from social media platforms.


2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christofer Pihl

Purpose – By using the concept of style, the purpose of this paper is to elaborate on the notion of brand community. More specifically, it seeks to explore how style can function as a linking value in forms of communities centred on brands that emerge within the empirical context of fashion and social media. Design/methodology/approach – A netnography of the content produced by 18 fashion bloggers in Sweden was conducted. Content analysis of this material was used to map how consumption objects, in terms of fashion brands, were integrated in activities taking place on blogs, and through these processes, acted as a linking value for community members. Findings – This paper demonstrates how fashion bloggers, together with their readers, constitute a form of community centred on style. It also shows how fashion bloggers, by combining and assembling fashion brands and products, articulate and express different style sets, and how they, together with their followers, engage in activities connected to these style ideals. Research limitations/implications – As this study has been empirically limited to a Swedish setting, future research would benefit from findings of international expressions of communities of style. Practical implications – Based on this study, strategies for managing communities of style is suggested to represent a potential source of competitive advantage for fashion firms. Originality/value – In the context of the conceptual discussion about what brings members of communities together, this study provides evidence of how style can function as a linking value in the setting of consumer communities that emerge within the boundaries of fashion and social media.


2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 669-689 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly MacKay ◽  
Danielle Barbe ◽  
Christine M. Van Winkle ◽  
Elizabeth Halpenny

Purpose This study explores the multi-phasic experience of festivals to understand the nature, purpose and degree of social media (SM) use before, during and after festival occurrence and how this may inform better engagement of attendees. Design/methodology/approach A census of tweets and posts from four festivals’ Twitter handles and Facebook accounts were coded and analyzed across three time points: one week prior, during and one week after the festival. They were coded on nature (e.g. conversational, promotional, informational), purpose (e.g. information-seeking, friendship/relationship) and presence of links, photos, etc. Tests for platform influences on usage were conducted. Findings In total, 1,169 tweets and 483 posts were captured. Two-thirds of SM activity occurred during the festivals, one-third pre-festival and minimal activity post festival. Temporal analyses found that while the purpose and nature of the message content varied across festival time points, this was often dependent on SM platform. Research limitations/implications Festivals are not taking advantage of the multi-phase experience model and the utility of SM to maintain contact and encourage visitors to continue processing their experience after the festival. This lost opportunity has implications for re-patronizing behaviour and sponsor relationships. Originality value Leung et al. (2013a) call for sector specific research to elucidate SM use in tourism. Festivals provide a unique environment of co-created experience. Findings suggest differential usage of SM across festival time frames and platforms that can be used to guide festival organizations’ SM communication to better engage its patrons.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Olan K.M. Scott ◽  
Nicholas Burton ◽  
Bo Li

Purpose This research explores ambush marketing on social media during the 2018 Commonwealth Games held in Australia. Two social media platforms – Twitter and Instagram – served as the dataset to uncover how official sponsors of the Canadian and Australian Commonwealth Games teams were ambushed.Design/methodology/approach Employing a content analysis of all official team sponsors and their competitors, the study’s findings offer an original and multi-national look into social media ambushing.Findings Results indicated that promoting Games’ links was the most common social media post type used by official event sponsors, followed by sharing results of their endorsed athletes and behind-the-scenes information.Research limitations/implications In an effort to provide connection to the event, posts by ambushers focused on promoting athletes endorsed by their brand. All ambushers were more likely to use Twitter to promote their endorsed athletes. Instagram, however, was not fully embraced in their ambush marketing.Originality/value Discussion and implications of the results provide sport marketers with information on how to leverage one’s link with a major sporting event.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier Cifuentes-Faura

PurposeThis paper attempts to explain the infodemics that the coronavirus crisis has generated through the dissemination of fake news, which can lead people and institutions to make decisions that end up being counterproductive to their own interests or to the needs of society.Design/methodology/approachThe existing literature in the field of information has been reviewed, as well as the fake news that has been spread during the COVID-19 crisis. Based on this review, a series of guidelines have been drawn up to enable citizens to detect the false information that is being disseminated.FindingsThis paper has established a series of recommendations to be followed by any communicator, journalist or person who creates content and information to promote effective communication during this crisis. It concludes that the role of the media is key in trying to reduce the spread of fake news.Originality/valueThis paper reflects the need to combat fake news originating during the pandemic through effective communication following a series of guidelines.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-08-2020-0352


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