Social media, opinion polls, and the use of persuasive messages during the 2016 US election primaries

Rossini, P. , Hemsley, J., Tanupabrungsun, S., Zhang, F. and Stromer-Galley, J. (2018) Social media, opinion polls, and the use of persuasive messages during the 2016 US election primaries. Social Media and Society, 4(3), (doi: 10.1177/2056305118784774)

Abstract

Political campaigns’ use of digital technologies has been a topic of scholarly concern for over two decades, but most studies have been focused on analyzing the use of digital platforms without considering contextual factors of the race, like public opinion polls. Opinion polls are an important information source for citizens and candidates and provide the latter with information that might drive strategic communication. In this article, we explore the relationship between the use of social media in the 2016 US presidential elections and candidates’ standing in public opinion polls, focusing on the surfacing and primary stages of the campaign. We use automated content analysis to categorize social media posts from all 21 Republican and Democratic candidates. Results indicate that a candidate’s performance in the polls drives certain communicative strategies, such as the use of messages of attacks and advocacy, as well as the focus on personal image.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: The research was supported in part by a Fellowship from the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University and the Center for Computational and Data Sciences at the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Rossini, Dr Patricia
• Authors: Rossini, P., Hemsley, J., Tanupabrungsun, S., Zhang, F., and Stromer-Galley, J.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Politics
• Journal Name: Social Media and Society
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• ISSN: 2056-3051
• ISSN (Online): 2056-3051
• Published Online: 19 July 2018
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © The Author(s) 2018
• First Published: First published in Social Media and Society 4(3)
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence