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Microblogging, Constituency Service and Impression Management: UK MPs and the Use of Twitter
This study analyzes 194,151 tweets from the 2021 German federal election using sentiment analysis and statistical techniques to examine social media’s role in shaping group emotions, voters’ emotional expression and derogatory speech toward candidates, and the relationship between sentiment intensity and tweet spread. The findings show that negative emotions dominated social media discussions. Additionally, voter perceptions towards candidates on social media also follow a pattern of negativity, often characterized by derogatory speech. This takes four main forms: intelligence-based attacks, animal metaphors, character insults, and gender-based discrimination, with female candidates disproportionately affected. Moreover, the study finds that negative emotions exhibit significantly greater diffusion and reach compared to positive and neutral sentiments on social media. This study further examines election fairness and political dialog openness through the lens of equity, inclusion, diversity, and access (IDEA). These findings emphasize individual and collective emotional dynamics in the social media environment, highlighting the need for governance strategies that promote equity, inclusivity, and diversity in digital political discussions.
The article is devoted to the problem of transformation of politicians' self-presentation in the digital media environment. It is noted that the resources of the Web 2.0 era provide political actors with wide opportunities to influence public opinion. At the same time, new media impose requirements, without which media strategies cannot be successful. In this regard, political figures are forced to adapt new ways of presenting themselves to others in the course of Internet communication. The purpose of the study is to identify the content features and effects of the tactics of presenting themselves to the audience, used by the deputies of legislative bodies of the subjects of the Russian Federation in the process of online communication. The subject of the analysis is the media strategies of the members of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg in the social network "VKontakte". The research method is deductive-inductive content analysis of publications (N = 300) posted by f A. N. Belsky; I. Ivanova; P. M. Itkin. V.; Itkin P. M.; Pavlov D. G.; Alekserov A. E.; Shishlova A. V. The author's methodology for analysing politicians' self-presentations is proposed. Using the methods of cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling, a generalised self-presentation profile of politicians is obtained. It was found that deputies strive for a combination of professionalising and moralising vectors in presenting images of themselves. Significant differences between the identified tactics in terms of likes and views were revealed. The results of the analysis show that a balanced approach to self-presentation allows to establish a closer connection with voters, consolidating in the minds of the audience a more holistic and attractive image of the politician.
Stevens, Vance. (2008). Trial by Twitter: The rise and slide of the year's most viral microblogging platform. TESL-EJ 12,(1), 1-14.
http://tesl-ej.org/ej45/int.pdf
https://vancestevens.com/papers/TESL-EJ/2008TESL-EJ_Trial_Twitter.pdf
Unpaginated HTML version: http://tesl-ej.org/ej45/int.html --- When I decided to write this article, Twitter was riding the crest of a wave sweeping the microblogosphere. Nevermind that till Twitter's release in 2006 there hadn't even been a microblogosphere. But this Internet niche has proven durable, compelling, mildly addictive even, and integral to the workflow of the most ostentatiously connected educators and knowledge workers. Twitter was an idea that converged with a need few even knew existed. Still today, many are saying "Who needs it? Why?" Others are saying "WE need it, bring it back!!" This article explains.
It is no longer sufficient for a British Member of Parliament to represent a particular party and be in a safe seat to guarantee re-election. Arguably the MP has to prove that they not only represent the party but also the constituency, and increasingly they feel under pressure to prove they take the latter aspect of the job very seriously. Therefore we find them engaging in various activities which can be described as profile building or public relations, activities which we recognize as being more consistent with the PR activities of charities and/or pressure groups. They act as campaigners, building themselves a profile through the local media, they are also increasingly using the Internet to promote themselves, their activities and a number of causes important to the MP and a section of the constituency. PR theory, especially Grunig and Hunt’s continuum and Ferguson’s relationship management theories, help explain the possible motivations for MPs using these various strategies. The question this article asks is whether this is just PR or is there a less cynical motive for this activity. In other words is it simply about vote winning, which clearly is a key aspect, or is there also a desire to increase interaction between the local electorate and their parliamentary representative.
This paper considers whether the use of weblogs and social networking sites (SNS) (Web 2.0 applications) by MPs has enhanced the representative process. A content analysis was conducted of MP's weblogs and SNS during May 2008. Two approaches to representation were analysed. First, whether MP's use of Web 2.0 applications was consistent with one of the four models: delegates, trustees, party and constituency. Second, whether the basis for a separate framework of `e-representation' can be said to exist. The data suggest that MP's use of Web 2.0 applications is most likely to be within the party and constituency models, although we also suggest the existence of a possible fifth model, the representation of self. There is limited evidence that a fully functioning model of e-representation currently exists, but the basis exists for such a model to develop in the future. With weblogs this is likely to be based upon a global constituency centred around issues and/or the MP's personality. For SNS it is more likely to be centred on constituency. The legacy of Web 2.0 may be that it empowers MPs to express themselves, and citizens to see MPs as accessible, ordinary people.British Politics (2009) 4, 236-264. doi:10.1057/bp.2009.2
This article introduces the concepts of political impression management and perception politics. It furthermore discusses results from empirical case studies by the authors using experiments and applying recent research models. Three main points of interest will be addressed: sound bites, the effects of appearance in politics, and personality profiles in the media. According to the view of political impression management, politicians and political parties control the impression they make on the audience (De Landtsheer, 2004). But first and foremost, this article tries to bridge the domain of political impression management with the domain of political marketing. The article concludes with some critical thoughts on the influences between political impression management and democracy.
This article examines the way politicians package themselves to their constituents via the Web. It looks at various aspects of online self-promotion by incumbent representatives in two advanced industrial democracies – the US and the UK. It seeks to ascertain the extent to which personal qualities are a key aspect of an elected representative's online persona, and any differences that exist between these democracies with different electoral cultures. It concludes by considering the findings of empirical research and what it reveals about the relationship between national electoral cultures and the politician's persona.
Impression management refers to the behavioral strategies that people use to create desired social images or identities. The current status of impression management explanations in social psychology is discussed, and it is argued that the common practice of referring to impression management theory is misleading. Many potential theories of impression management exist, each based on distinct assumptions. Methodological strategies that investigators have used to distinguish between impression management and intrapsychic explanations for a variety of research findings are reviewed. Although empirical confrontations between impression management and intrapsychic explanations have stimulated innovative research, there are serious limits on the discriminability of the 2 classes of explanation. Possible conceptual frameworks are discussed for integrating the psychological processes described by both impression management and intrapsychic explanations. (60 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The processes of economic liberalisation, democratisation, and technological change are radically transforming political communication around the world. In multi-party democracies political activity has increasingly come under the gaze of a plethora of media outlets that have been deregulated and largely freed from censorship and direct state control. Personality and not just policies, is increasingly an integral part of a politician's electoral appeal. It is not uncommon to find politicians appearing in a variety of non-news media outlets, and for journalists to be interested in the all aspects of their private lives. This article provides an overview of some of the key issues raised in the articles assembled in this special issue of the journal and considers the consequences of some of the aspects discussed.
This article presents the research questions, research methodology, and some of the major results of a comparative, survey-based study of the use of ICT by members of parliament in seven European countries. The overall research question is whether ICT is an active driver in changing the role of MPs by strengthening either their delegate or trustee role, or whether we see the contours of a totally new role for MPs in the "information society". Even though the data does not permit a full answer to this question, they allow us to see at least the contours of a new role for the MP in which attention to information flows and the media comes more to the fore, and where ability to influence the political agenda through digital means is crucial. Three other results from the surveys stand out clearly: a) there is a rather clear North-South divide in Europe concerning both what types of ICT are used by MPs, and the extent to which they are used. For MPs from the Northern European countries included in the study ICT has become an indispensable daily tool, while this is less so in the more southern countries, b) in explaining differences and similarities in MPs use of ICT across countries, institutional factors like the organization of work in parliament, and the MPs parliamentary position seem to be the most important, c) MPs ICT competence and ICT experience are more important factors in explaining their attitudes towards the democratic potentials of ICT than more traditional background variables such as gender, age and party affiliation and size.
Westminster MPs have regularly been criticised for their failure to take advantage of the democratic possibilities of the Internet, particularly in light of the continuing problems of engaging public interest in representative institutions. Yet, so far, there have been few studies of their online activities. This article examines the growth and function of UK MPs' websites and how far technology might facilitate changes in their constituency, party and parliament roles. The results indicate a significant growth over the past three years, although those with independent websites are still in a minority. It is also clear that personal factors (notably age), constituency factors, such as electoral marginality and the technological profile of the locality, as well as party factors all help explain patterns of MPs' activity online. For the most part, however, content analysis of sites reveals a rather static and cautious approach to web communication which represents a modernising rather than democratising strategy.
The notion that political marketing occurs only during formal campaign periods is discarded in the political marketing literature. Political campaigns, rather than being periodic, are “permanent”. Accordingly, the attention of political marketers must increasingly turn to the analysis of how and when politicians serve their communities or constituencies. Indeed, the kinds of services commonly associated with political influence and constituency activity indicate a convergence of politics and public sector service provision. In this essay, the nature and effects of constituency-focused service delivery are examined as an integral part of political marketing.
Purpose
To examine the weblogs written by members of UK legislatures and to determine whether such weblogs address commonly cited criticisms of MPs' web sites and serve to bridge the gap between representative and constituent.
Design/methodology/approach
Examination of the literature on MPs' web sites to draw up a list of common criticisms. Construction of evaluation criteria to analyse the blogs in terms of content, currency, design, interactivity and evidence of personality both as a snapshot and over a longer period.
Findings
That weblogs are, on the whole, kept up to date and show promising levels of activity. Blogs enable constituents to see with what their MPs have been involved (on both the local and the Parliamentary stages) and to see what areas of policy particularly interest their MP. Personality of the MPs is apparent on most of the blogs, which are less party‐oriented than many MPs' web sites. Although the gap between representatives and constituents may have been bridged to an extent, blogging is still largely a top‐down form of communication – even though people do submit relevant and pertinent comments to the blogs, proper two‐way debate is rarely seen and comments are not always acknowledged or answered.
Research limitations/implications
Based on a small number of blogs covering the UK only.
Practical implications
Provides simple evaluation criteria that could be applied to blogs in other areas.
Originality/value
Provides a useful first structured analysis of weblogs written by elected representatives, on which further work can be undertaken once the sample size has increased and existing blogs are more established.
The role of MPs changes over time. Commentators have identified five separate roles that an MP may carry out for which communication with constituents may be a key factor in determining the success of an MP. One of the latest, and currently underdeveloped, forms of direct political communication to constituents is e-newsletters from MPs. This article addresses how MPs are using their e-newsletter to help fulfil each of their parliamentary roles. A content analysis of the e-newsletters of seven MPs sent out regularly over a 1-year period from April 2003 to March 2004 was conducted. The data found that e-newsletters best helped fulfil both the political and non-political aspects of the constituency role. However, the article concludes that e-newsletter communication is primarily one-way, but that if it was two-way it might help MPs in all of their roles.
British legislators face overloaded schedules with conflicting priorities: the puzzle is to explain why they devote so much of their time to constituency service. This paper aims to compare the incentives facing members due to their career structures, role orientations, social backgrounds and constituency demands. This paper re‐examines these explanations based on the British Candidate Survey and personal interviews with MPs in the 1992 British general election.
There are in Britain two dimensions of representation: a national dimension which focuses on policy opinions, and a constituency dimension which focuses on redress of grievances. For centuries, the redress of grievances was the only important function performed by members of Parliament. In response to the recent expansion of central government and the rise of the welfare state, this function has been revitalized in the role of the “good constituency member” who represents constituents by making representations on behalf of their individual needs and collective interests. Using interview data on 338 MPs, the following article investigates this role, explores its relationships with behavior, and examines incentives which lead backbenchers to choose constituency service over alternative career paths.
MPs have not previously been assigned a major role in electoral campaigning, being considered only one element of a political party's ‘marketing’ tools for winning votes. Evidence now suggests that the relationship between MPs and their constituents is changing. The concept of ‘constituency service’ implies that individual MPs can have a much greater influence on local voters and so possibly buck national trends. At the same time the concept of the ‘permanent campaign’ is transforming political campaigning whereby the political elite needs ever-greater control of the tools used to provide messages to voters. The internet is a potential battleground between MPs who want greater control of their own local campaigning and the party elite who want to ensure a consistent, coherent and controlled message.
The Internet is a new addition to the campaigning armoury, yet the focus so far has been on e-government, e-democracy and election campaigns. By concentrating on how and why MPs use their websites this paper considers whether MPs have fully understood and utilised this new medium.
Key questions include whether their websites are ‘sticky’, interactive and a means of creating a targeted message.
The findings of this detailed study of MPs' websites show that apart from a few pioneers, MPs have not progressed beyond using the Internet as ‘shovelware’ — the vast majority view their website as an electronic brochure and not a new form of two-way communication. Copyright
Politicians' self-presentation on German television talk shows was compared to that of entertainers and of experts. It was found that politicians used more exemplification than did any other group and more self-promotion than entertainers but less than experts. Ingratiation was broken down into 3 components: modesty, self-disclosure, and favorable self-description. Favorable self-description did not differ across groups. Modesty was found to be more frequent in entertainers than in any other group; self-disclosure was most frequent in entertainers, and second in politicians. Evidence suggests that depending on group status, either modesty or favorable self-description is used to create the impression of likability. Supplication and intimidation did not occur in any of the 3 groups. Implications of these results are discussed with relation to public political discourse and self-presentation theory.
The Internet has become an important means by which members of Congress communicate with their constituents. Although a number of studies have examined the content and features of congressional Web sites,how members of Congress present themselves on the Web has yet to be addressed.A content analysis of the images displayed on the home pages of 100 senators and 244 House members who served in the 107th Congress reveals two distinct presentations: an "insider" style and an "outsider" style. The results vary, moreover, by chamber, seniority, gender, and race. Within each party, the most significant differences were by gender, with Democratic women the most likely to present themselves as outsiders and Republican women the most likely to present themselves as insiders.
In an exploratory study of British and Swedish managers' perspectives on the process of signalling high commitment, half said they actively managed the promotion of commitment. They did this through behaviours which could be described as impression management strategies, which differed by gender, males using more work-related strategies and females building closer upward relationships. Some overcame reluctance to promote themselves. Responses were similar from the samples in both countries. An implication for practitioners is that for those who are unaware of the importance of self-promotion, or unwilling to take such actions (and in this study, there were more females than males in this category), this may result in another invisible career barrier. Findings indicate the importance to ambitious managers of visibility of commitment to senior position gatekeepers, which helps to build reputation. Impression management is a valuable tool which, if used well, can enhance the visibility of their true strengths and committed performance.
Social network sites (SNS) have become very popular, especially among adolescents and young adults. Consequently, politicians started to use them for their campaigns. This paper examines how this personalized soft campaigning strategy worked in the 2006 Dutch elections and how interaction with potential voters can influence the evaluation of the candidates. The first question is answered by a web survey among active users of Hyves, the largest Dutch SNS. The second question is answered by a web experiment on a fictive candidate. The survey showed that SNS provide an opportunity to reach individuals less interested in politics. Viewing a candidate's profile further strengthened existing attitudes. However, the politicians did not fully use the interactive features of SNS during the 2006 campaign. The web experiment showed that politicians who react on the comments of users were perceived more favorable. This effect was stronger for right-wing politicians and left-wing voters.
Throughout a two-year campaign, Barack Obama's political team -- including campaign manager David Plouffe and senior adviser David Axelrod -- tapped into information technology to redefine the election process and interact with people in new and different ways. From the beginning, the Obama team understood the power of the technology and how it could be harnessed for political gain, says Deniece Peterson, principal analyst at INPUT, a Reston, VA, government-focused market research and consulting firm. It should come as no surprise that databases, social networking tools, and IT systems are likely to play a central role in the Obama administration. While new media has enormous power to help a candidate get elected, it also wields influence as a tool for operating a more efficient and transparent government -- and advancing a political agenda. As campaigns and government become more familiar with digital tools and the technology advances, the face of politics will continue to change.
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