The role of social media platforms in revolutionising the orthodox African electoral process and outcomes

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-23
Author(s):  
Joshua Ebere Chukwuere ◽  
Chijioke Francis Onyebukwa ◽  
Ifeanyi Mbukanma
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Media Ecology ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Political News ◽  
Human Interactions ◽  
Digital Era ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Voting Decisions

This research looks into social media platforms' role in revolutionising African electoral processes and outcomes in the digital era. The study applied the descriptive literature review research method through the lens of ―Uses and Gratifications Theory‖ and ―Media Ecology Theory‖. The usage of social media platforms keeps revolutionising human interactions and political communication in the digital age. Individuals, government, and non-governmental entities keep up with the trends presented by social media platforms in carrying out different political functions such as an election. The advent of social media platforms makes it easier for electorate, political actors, parties and electoral commissions to engage and exchange information, views and ideas during the pre and postelection periods. This study found that social media platforms positively and negatively influence the African continent's election processes and outcomes. It found that political news and information on social media influence people's voting decisions and the political actor/s and parties to follow. The study further shows that electorate behaviours keep changing due to information available on social media platforms. The platforms help them define their views about a particular party, political actors, and their reaction to an election outcome.

scholarly journals Political communication in post-truth society

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-87
Author(s):  
Nina Gorenc
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
2016 Election ◽  
Us Presidential Election ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Political Apathy ◽  
The Impact

The research behind this paper is set in the context of the 2016 US presidential election that has come to symbolize the post-truth era. We conducted a literature review on the 2016 election, with the aim to better understand the impact of computational propaganda on the election outcome and on the behaviour of voters. The paper opens with a definition of post-truth society and related concepts such as fake news and computational propaganda. It explores the changes of political communication in a digital environment and analyses the role of social media in the 2016 election. It probes into phenomena such as the trivialization of politics and the loss of credibility of political actors, which are both common in post-truth societies. The reviewed literature seems to indicate that social media have become strong actors on the political stage, but so far not the predominant source of political information and influence on the behaviour of voters. The paper makes two important contributions. Firstly, drawing on the concept of post-truth society, it analyses the role of computational propaganda in the 2016 presidential election, and secondly, it attempts to explain the paradox of general political apathy on one hand, and increased political activism on the other. These are some of the challenges we are now facing, and in order to be able to cope with them it is important to acknowledge and understand them.

Bypassing the press gallery: from Howard to Hanson

2018 ◽  
Vol 167 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Fisher ◽  
David Marshall ◽  
Kerry McCallum
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Political News ◽  
The Public ◽  
Theoretical Position ◽  
Digital Era ◽  
The Press ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Media Logic

Traditionally politicians have been dependent on political news media to get their message across to the public. The rise of social media means that politicians can bypass the Press Gallery and publish directly to their target audiences via Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms. This article argues that Prime Minister John Howard’s (1996–2007) use of talk back radio and early forays on YouTube were pivotal in the trend towards ‘disintermediation’ in Australian politics. It draws on two studies. One involving interviews with 87 key media actors from the Howard era including journalists, broadcasters, politicians and media advisers; and a second, which includes fresh interviews with contemporary press secretaries. This article examines the shift from a ‘mass media logic’ to a ‘hybrid logic’, considered from a mediatization theoretical position. We also ask important questions about the press gallery’s ongoing relevance in the digital era, when politicians preside over their own social media empires.

scholarly journals Logics of the Icelandic Hybrid Media System

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-59
Author(s):  
Birgir Guðmundsson
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
New Media ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Media System ◽  
Network Media ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media Logic

AbstractThe increased importance of social media platforms and network media logic merging with traditional media logic are a trademark of modern hybrid systems of political communication. This article looks at this development through the media-use by politicians before the 2016 and 2017 parliamentary elections in Iceland. Aggregate results from candidate surveys on the use and perceived importance of different media forms are used to examine the role of the new platform Snapchat in relation to other media, and to highlight the dynamics of the hybrid media system in Iceland. The results show that Snapchat is exploited more by younger politicians and those already using social media platforms. However, in spite of this duality between old and new media, users of traditional platforms still use new media and vice versa. This points to the existance of a delicate operational balance between different media logics, that could change as younger politicians move more centre stage.

Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel C. Woolley ◽  
Philip N. Howard
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Data Science ◽  
Autonomous Agents ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Political Role ◽  
The People ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Qualitative Work

Computational propaganda is an emergent form of political manipulation that occurs over the Internet. The term describes the assemblage of social media platforms, autonomous agents, algorithms, and big data tasked with manipulating public opinion. Our research shows that this new mode of interrupting and influencing communication is on the rise around the globe. Advances in computing technology, especially around social automation, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, mean that computational propaganda is becoming more sophisticated and harder to track. This introduction explores the foundations of computational propaganda. It describes the key role of automated manipulation of algorithms in recent efforts to control political communication worldwide. We discuss the social data science of political communication and build upon the argument that algorithms and other computational tools now play an important political role in news consumption, issue awareness, and cultural understanding. We unpack key findings of the nine country case studies that follow—exploring the role of computational propaganda during events from local and national elections in Brazil to the ongoing security crisis between Ukraine and Russia. Our methodology in this work has been purposefully mixed, using quantitative analysis of data from several social media platforms and qualitative work that includes interviews with the people who design and deploy political bots and disinformation campaigns. Finally, we highlight original evidence about how this manipulation and amplification of disinformation is produced, managed, and circulated by political operatives and governments, and describe paths for both democratic intervention and future research in this space.

scholarly journals KOMUNIKASI POLITIK ANIES BASWEDAN MELALUI SOSIAL MEDIA TWITTER

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 441-453
Author(s):  
Ashari Sakti Alim ◽  
Dian Eka Rahmawati
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Public Services ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Software Applications ◽  
Political Communications ◽  
Political Branding ◽  
Twitter Account

Abstract This paper wants to analyze how Anies Baswedan conveyed his political communication on Twitter social media. In this contemporary era, one of the most dominant political communications is social media, where political communication plays an important role because it can have an impact on political participation, political socialization. In the political field the role of social media is very important because it contributes as openness and transparency, Anies Baswedan is one of the political actors who play social media Twitter to convey political communication while increasing its popularity. In accordance with its previous political promises of integrated transportation and ok oce program. Anies is not uncommon to convey and show the development of political promises that have been running on his Twitter social media. in disseminating information through social media Twitter has proven to be very effective because many users around the world. This study uses descriptive qualitative research methods and analyzes using the help of NVIVO12 Plus software applications. The results of this study revealed that Anies Baswedan's political communication on Twitter social media was very focused on public services in DKI Jakarta. Political communication from Anies Baswedan also received a lot of responses from his followers on his Twitter account. This can be seen from the number of retweets and mentions done to Anies Baswedan. Anies Baswedan was also quite active in conveying his political communication through Twitter social media such as notifying work programs, political branding, giving political talks that were light in nature and also related to public services in DKI Jakarta. Keywords : Political Communication, Anies Baswedan, Social Media, Twitter Abstrak Tulisan ini ingin menganalisis bagaimana Anies Baswedan dalam menyampaikan komunikasi politiknya di sosial media Twitter. Pada era kontemporer ini salah satu komunikasi politik yang paling dominan adalah media sosial, dimana komunikasi politik sangat memegang peranan penting karena bisa berdampak untuk partisipasi politik, sosialisasi politik. Dalam bidang politik peran media sosial media sangat penting karena berkontribusi sebagai keterbukaan dan transparansi, Anies Baswedan adalah salah satu aktor politik yang bermain sosial media Twitter untuk menyampaikan komunikasi politik sekaligus menaikan popularitasnya. Sesuai dengan janji politiknya terdahulu yaitu transportasi terintegrasi dan program oke oce. Anies tak jarang menyampaikan dan memperlihatkan perkembangan janji politiknya yang telah berjalan di sosial media Twitter miliknya. dalam penyebaran informasi melalui sosial media Twitter sudah terbukti sangat efektif karena banyak penggunanya diseluruh dunia. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode penelitian kualitatif deskriptif dan melakukan analisis dengan menggunakan bantuan aplikasi perangkat lunak NVIVO12 Plus. Hasil dari ini penelitian ini mengungkapkan bahwa komunikasi politik Anies Baswedan di sosial media Twitter sangat befokus pada pelayanan publik di DKI Jakarta. Komunikasi politik dari Anies Baswedan juga mendapatkan banyak respon dari pengikutnya di akun Twitter hal ini dapat dilihat dari jumlah Retweet dan mentions yng dilakukan kepada Anies Baswedan. Anies Baswedan juga cukup aktif dalam menyampaikan komunikasi politiknya melalui sosial media Twitter seperti memberitahukan program kerja, Branding politik, memberikan perbincangan politik yang sifatnya ringan dan juga terkait dengan pelayanan publik di DKI Jakarta. Kata Kunci : Komunikasi Politik, Anies Baswedan, Sosial Media, Twitter

scholarly journals Refugee Crisis and the Role of NGO Lobbying

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-34
Author(s):  
Vishnu Muraleedharan ◽  
Thomas Andrew Bryer
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Policy Decision ◽  
The United States ◽  
Immigrant Integration ◽  
The People ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Effective Policy ◽  
Migrant Integration

Migration is a significant human phenomenon in which the people were moving across the globe in search of better living conditions. However, due to the violent political scenario between nations forced the displacement of millions of people for survival and currently, around 70.8 million people have been displaced across the world (UNHCR, 2019). It requires attention that even though there are various organisation’s to support migrants, NGO’s play a pivotal role in protecting humanitarian aspects of the migrants and their integration. About the NGO mechanisms, the significant measures are the lobbying and the mediatised political communication for effective policy changes. Therefore, it is significant to identify how NGO’s influence on political communication and policy decision making using social media platforms and lobbying mechanism in the state of Florida in the United States. The article aims to identify the role of NGO on addressing the migrant crisis and upholding of sanctuary policy in Florida which facilitates migrant integration. Research methods include a qualitative interview with the Florida Immigrant Coalition and their social media discourse. The finding could be useful for effective immigrant integration and the significant policy measures needed for facilitating migrant integration.

scholarly journals TRUSTING TWITTERSPHERE AS A GENUINE POLITICAL DEBATE? THE CASE OF INDONESIAN ELECTION HASTAGS

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yearry Panji Setianto
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Digital Citizenship ◽  
Parliamentary Election ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
Small Communities ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Political Conversation ◽  
Social Media Platforms

This research in progress explores how political discussion on Indonesian Twittersphere could provide a genuine conversation on debates related to the upcoming 2019 national election in Indonesia. Taking the case of the presidential and parliamentary election in the upcoming April 2019, the author uses social media data on Twitter to investigate whether the discussions are heavily lean into digital public sphere or more dominated by political buzzer and bots. The author examines this by creating Twitter network maps based on hashtags related to the election. Modularity tests are employed to identify the extent of online community developed during the conversations. Most of the hashtags analyzed could attract hundreds of small communities, created mini-publics, which in turn shows the degree of willingness of the Indonesian social media users to participate in this practice of digital citizenship. Qualitative observations on the selection of the most significant actors within the network and the words they posted are employed to understand if the conversations were not led by either dominant political actors or political buzzers/bots, and thus, suggest the citizens’ genuine form of political communication. Despite the limitations of studying Twitter data, the author suggests that by taking a closer attention to how political conversation in non-English/Western political environment, this study might provide valuable insights on the development of genuine utilization of (and trust on) the social media platforms for political engagement.

scholarly journals Following Politicians on Social Media: Effects for Political Information, Peer Communication, and Youth Engagement

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franziska Marquart ◽  
Jakob Ohme ◽  
Judith Möller
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
Political Information ◽  
Youth Engagement ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Online Networks ◽  
Political News ◽  
Social Media Platforms

Young citizens increasingly turn to social media platforms for political information. These platforms enable direct communication between politicians and citizens, circumventing the influence of traditional news outlets. We still know little about the consequences of direct contact with politicians on such platforms for citizens’ political participation. Here, we argue that the interplay of different actors in the political news diet of citizens should be investigated from a networked communication perspective. Relying on a cross-sectional survey of young Danes (15–25 years old, <em>n</em> = 567), we investigate the relationship between following politicians on social media and: (a) the composition of young citizens’ political media diet; and (b) their civic messaging and campaign participation. Following political actors on social media relates to increased campaign engagement and can be a catalyst for young people’s exposure to campaign news, but their friends and followers function as the main node of their political online networks. We document a process of the de-mediation of politics on social media: Established news media lose influence as primary information sources for young citizens. We discuss these results in the context of users’ active curation and passive selection of their political social media diet.

scholarly journals When Social Media Doesn’t Determine All: The Topics and Narratives of Latvian Political Parties on Facebook During the 2019 European Parliament Elections Campaign

Tripodos ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 151-165
Author(s):  
Mārtiņš Pričins
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Party Leaders ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
European Parliament Elections ◽  
Research Period

Over the last decade, the implementation of campaigns by political parties and their candidates on social media platforms has become an integral part of political communication. Political communication studies have long indicated that elections are becoming personalized, with more focus on party leaders or individual candidates. But studies on communication by political parties to understand the identity of parties and their potential in communication with voters remain relevant. The aim of the paper is to analyse the visual election materials of the political parties from Latvia on the social network Facebook during the 2019 European Parliament (EP) election campaign. The research period is two weeks before elections. The subject of the study is election materials on Facebook accounts of the parties representing the national parliament of Latvia. A codebook for analysis has been developed, containing common and specific variables, designed to explore the verbal and visual dimensions. The results of the study allow us to draw conclusions about the changing success of new populist and traditional parties, as well as to look at the role of Facebook in elections in a little-studied country.

scholarly journals The Role of Journalism on YouTube: Audience Engagement with ‘Superbug’ Reporting

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 235-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Djerf-Pierre ◽  
Mia Lindgren ◽  
Mikayla Alexis Budinski
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Popular Science ◽  
Media Ecology ◽  
Audience Engagement ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Media Platform ◽  
Youtube Videos ◽  
High Level ◽  
Political Economic

Journalism has gradually become ‘normalized into social media’, and most journalists use social media platforms to publish their work (Bruns, 2018). YouTube is an influential social media platform, reaching over a billion users worldwide. Its extensive reach attracts professional and amateur video producers who turn to YouTube to inform, entertain and engage global publics. Focusing on YouTube, this study explores the place for journalism within this media ecology. This study uses a mixed-method approach to examine forms of audience engagement to YouTube videos about antimicrobial resistance (AMR), or so called “superbugs”, caused by overuse and misuse of antibiotics. The analysis focuses on the most viewed YouTube videos about AMR between 2016 and 2018, and compares engagement themes expressed in comments to journalistic videos with popular science videos. The most viewed videos about AMR on YouTube are professionally produced educational popular science videos. The qualitative analysis of 3,049 comments identifies seven main forms of high-level engagement, including expressions of emotions, blame and calls for action. This study shows that journalism plays an important role on YouTube by generating audience discussions about social and political accountability. Our findings demonstrate that journalism videos were associated with propositions for political, economic and social/lifestyle actions, while popular science videos were associated with medicines, scientific or pseudo-scientific, and medical practice changes.

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