The Social Media Paradox Explained: Comparing Political Parties’ Facebook Strategy Versus Practice
Political parties’ interaction strategy and practice on Facebook is the topic of this article. Political parties and individual politicians can use social media to bypass media and communicate directly with voters through websites and particularly social media platforms such as Facebook. But previou...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publishing
2016-04-01
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| Series: | Social Media + Society |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305116644616 |
| _version_ | 1818304005556666368 |
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| author | Bente Kalsnes |
| author_facet | Bente Kalsnes |
| author_sort | Bente Kalsnes |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Political parties’ interaction strategy and practice on Facebook is the topic of this article. Political parties and individual politicians can use social media to bypass media and communicate directly with voters through websites and particularly social media platforms such as Facebook. But previous research has demonstrated that interaction on social media is challenging for political parties. This study examines the disparity between interaction strategy and online responsiveness and finds that political parties identify three clear disadvantages when communicating with voters online: online reputation risk, negative media attention, and limited resources. In addition, the authenticity requirement many parties adhere to is creating a “social media interaction deadlock,” which is increasing the disparity between the parties’ expressed strategy and online performance. This study compares major and minor political parties’ interaction strategy during the 2013 national election in Norway and combines interviews of political communication directors with an innovative method to collect Facebook interaction data. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T06:03:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ee6cbc1167144d56b4e072c1a148be63 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2056-3051 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T06:03:49Z |
| publishDate | 2016-04-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Social Media + Society |
| spelling | doaj.art-ee6cbc1167144d56b4e072c1a148be632022-12-21T23:57:17ZengSAGE PublishingSocial Media + Society2056-30512016-04-01210.1177/205630511664461610.1177_2056305116644616The Social Media Paradox Explained: Comparing Political Parties’ Facebook Strategy Versus PracticeBente KalsnesPolitical parties’ interaction strategy and practice on Facebook is the topic of this article. Political parties and individual politicians can use social media to bypass media and communicate directly with voters through websites and particularly social media platforms such as Facebook. But previous research has demonstrated that interaction on social media is challenging for political parties. This study examines the disparity between interaction strategy and online responsiveness and finds that political parties identify three clear disadvantages when communicating with voters online: online reputation risk, negative media attention, and limited resources. In addition, the authenticity requirement many parties adhere to is creating a “social media interaction deadlock,” which is increasing the disparity between the parties’ expressed strategy and online performance. This study compares major and minor political parties’ interaction strategy during the 2013 national election in Norway and combines interviews of political communication directors with an innovative method to collect Facebook interaction data.https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305116644616 |
| spellingShingle | Bente Kalsnes The Social Media Paradox Explained: Comparing Political Parties’ Facebook Strategy Versus Practice Social Media + Society |
| title | The Social Media Paradox Explained: Comparing Political Parties’ Facebook Strategy Versus Practice |
| title_full | The Social Media Paradox Explained: Comparing Political Parties’ Facebook Strategy Versus Practice |
| title_fullStr | The Social Media Paradox Explained: Comparing Political Parties’ Facebook Strategy Versus Practice |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Social Media Paradox Explained: Comparing Political Parties’ Facebook Strategy Versus Practice |
| title_short | The Social Media Paradox Explained: Comparing Political Parties’ Facebook Strategy Versus Practice |
| title_sort | social media paradox explained comparing political parties facebook strategy versus practice |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305116644616 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bentekalsnes thesocialmediaparadoxexplainedcomparingpoliticalpartiesfacebookstrategyversuspractice AT bentekalsnes socialmediaparadoxexplainedcomparingpoliticalpartiesfacebookstrategyversuspractice |