Adi, A, Erickson, K and Lilleker, DG (2014) Elite Tweets: Analyzing the Twitter Communication Patterns of Labour Party Peers in the House of Lords. Policy & Internet, 6 (1). pp. 1-27. ISSN 1944-2866
Abstract
The microblogging platform Twitter has gained notoriety for its status as both a communication channel between private individuals and as a public forum monitored by journalists, the public, and the state. Its potential application for political communication has not gone unnoticed; politicians have used Twitter to attract voters, interact with constituencies and advance issue-based campaigns. This article reports findings from the research team's work with 21 peers sitting on the Labour frontbench. The researchers monitored and archived the peers' activity on Twitter for a period of 3 months between June and September 2012. Using a sample of 4,363 tweets and a mixed methodology combining semantic analysis, social network analysis, and quantitative analysis, this article explores the peers' patterns of usage and communication on Twitter. Key findings are that as a tweeting community their behavior is consistent with other communities. However, there is evidence that a coherent strategy is lacking in their coordinated use of the platform. Labour peers tend to work in small, clustered networks of self-interest as opposed to collectively to promote party policy.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Keywords: | Twitter, social network analysis, House of Lords, elite groups, semantic analysis, U.K. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Performance, Visual Arts and Communications (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 12 Mar 2018 11:51 |
Last Modified: | 12 Mar 2018 11:53 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Identification Number: | 10.1002/1944-2866.POI350 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:123852 |