New opportunities for communicating with voters: A literature review
of politicians’ use of social networking sites
Lena Kjeldsen
PhD Fellow
Department of Political Science
Aalborg University, Denmark
lenakj@dps.aau.dk
(First draft, Please do not cite before contacting author)
Paper for the 40th anniversary NordMedia conference: Defending democracy. Oslo 811 August
Abstract
Since 2006 when Facebook opened to a broader public and Twitter was launched, social networking
sites (SNS) have been increasingly employed by the public, turning the sites into a clear-cut
opportunity for politicians to seek out voters. As the platforms have evolved, so have politicians’ use
thereof and with the dealignment that has occurred in most Western countries and the rise of the
constant election campaign, politicians seek to use the platforms to attract voters. This paper
reviews the research on how politicians use SNS in order to uncover two interrelated issues
concerning politicians’ possibilities to take advantage of two inherent affordances of social
networking sites in order to appeal to an increasing number of voters: a personalized environment
and possibilities for including voters or remaining in control of the production of messages. The
review shows a need for explicit definitions and new approaches to studying politicians’ use of SNS.
Keywords: Political communication, social networking sites, personalization of politics, interactivity, literature
review
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