Year: 2020
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Since the introduction of social media into everyday communication, a series of claims and \ncounterclaims have been made about its potential to either rectify or exacerbate the so-called \ncrisis within representative democracy. Theoretical arguments suggest that social media may \nincrease the closeness between representatives and citizens through more direct and \ncommunicative forms of representation. Based on these assumptions, this thesis seeks to assess \nthe ways social media has changed the conduct of political representation in the United Kingdom. \nIt does this through an original methodological approach to answer research questions from the \nperspective of MPs (interviews), citizens (surveys), and social media data from three social \nnetworks. This approach goes past previous literature on the use of social media that does not \nprovide either multi-platform analysis or encapsulate data from citizens to offer a bottom-up \napproach. \n \nThe results show that in many ways, MPs do not fully utilise Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram to \ntheir expected potential. They seldom seek interpersonal dialogue with citizens, with only \nmarginal increases in two-way communication attributable to social media. Instead, MPs are \npursuing a strategy of broadcasting, limiting interactions to citizens who display positive \nsentiment towards the MP or their party: rejecting the notion that social media might foster the \nconcept of direct representation. Concurrently, the evidence suggests citizens might not be \nseeking to interact with MPs, as only a limited number of participants pursued communication \nwith them. Instead, citizens seem to follow representatives for information gathering, news, or \nto show support. This implies that the crisis within representative democracy cannot be overcome \nby interactive communication platforms alone. \n \nHowever, findings indicate that social media increases feelings of representation by citizens when \nthey follow MPs. From this, social media is found not to provide representative benefits in \nexpected ways, but as a communication platform for a process of informational convergence \nwhich shapes the way citizens interpret the MPs they follow. This highlights a new way of \napproaching the benefits of representative communication towards a model in which what MPs \npost is of greater importance than levels of interactivity. \n \nKeywords: Political Communication; Political Representation; Social Media; Deliberative Representation
Author: Liam McLoughlin
Language: English
Topic: Social Media and Politics
Subfield: Communication
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3015236049