Social Medias Effect on Political Socialization

Annotated Bibliography
Goodnow, Trischa. Facing Off: A Comparative Analysis of Obama and Romney
Facebook Timeline Photographs. American Behavioral Scientist 57. 2013:
(1584-1595).
In this article, Trischa Goodnow discusses the effectiveness of Mitt Romney and
Barack Obamas Facebook Timeline photos during the 2012 presidential election.
Goodnow looks at some of Romney and Obamas most memorable posts and studied
how these frameworks for their photos altered public opinion. Goodnow delves deep
into her study insofar as to read into the most obscure details in a photograph. Trischa
Goodnow is a Professor of Speech Communications at Oregon State University where
her research focuses on propaganda and our cognitive reactions to strong language and
imagery.
Jacobs, Kristof and Dr. Niels Spierings. Getting Personal? The Impact of Social Media
on Preferential Voting. Political Behavior 36. 2014: (215-234).
Jacobs and Spieringss piece defines the importance of a candidates presence on
the internet and its effect on the results of an upcoming election. The authors present
two hypotheses: whether the amount of followers a candidates social media page has
garners them more votes, or whether the actual use of their social media accounts earns
them more votes. The authors emphasize that there is a lack of empirical data on this, so
they create their own test through studying the use of Twitter in the 2010 Dutch
Parliamentary election. Kristof Jacobs is a Professor of Political Science at Radboud
University in The Netherlands where his research specializes in challenges to democracy
and he teaches political communication. Dr. Niels Spierings is a research fellow at the
London School of Economics where his research has focused on the political impact of
the internet and social media.
Maarek, Philippe. Campaign Communication and Political Marketing. (West Sussex:
Wiley Blackwell, 2011) 158-175.
Phillippe Maarek is a professor of Information and Communication Sciences at
the University of Paris. His book, Campaign Communication and Political Marketing
discusses both traditional and contemporary forms of communication used to legitimize
and promote a campaign or candidate. In his chapter titled The Growing Importance of
the Internet, Maarek discusses the inevitable usage of the internet as a campaign tool in
the form of campaign websites, blogs, advertisements, e-mails, videos and messages.
Swigger, Nathaniel. The Online Citizen: Is Social Media Changing Citizens Beliefs
About Democratic Values? Political Behavior 35. 2013: (589-603).
Nathaniel Swiggers article explores online socialization, and how our virtual
decision making reflects our personal preferences. This article focuses on how our
online engagement affects our civic participation and political identities. Most
important to me within his article is his exploration of our creation of social networks
which reflect our personal networks. Nathaniel Swigger is a Professor of Political

Social Medias Effect on Political Socialization

Science at Ohio State University, and has been published in numerous academic
Political Science journals. His research focuses on the psychology behind our political
decisions and how they came to be.
Zhang, Weiwu, Thomas J. Johnson, Trent Seltzer, and Shannon L. Bichard. The
Revolution Will Be Networked: The Influence of Social Networking Sites on
Political Attitudes and Behavior. Social Science Computer Review 28. 2010: (75
92).
Weiwu Zhang et al.s piece The Revolution Will Be Networked explores the
move from conventional television and print media towards virtual media. The group of
researchers also creates a study where they analyze whether the shift has caused the
publics political participation and knowledge to increase. Its findings show that political
participation does increase through using social media sites such as Facebook and
Twitter because we are being exposed to our more politically engaged friends ideas on
the state of affairs. Weiwu Zhang et al. are a conglomerate team of professors and
professionals from Texas Tech University. Weiwu Zhang, the principal writer of the
project, holds a PhD in Mass Communication and focuses his research on propaganda
and public opinion. Thomas (Tom) J. Johnson is currently a professor of electoral
journalism and communications at the University of Texas at Austin. Trent Seltzer is
currently the Chair of the Department of Public Relations at Texas Tech University.
Shannon L. Bichard is an Associate Professor of Public Opinion and Propaganda at
Texas Tech University.

Social Medias Effect on Political Socialization

Social Medias Effect on Political Socialization

Rebecca Pineiro
Northeastern University
Advanced Writing in the Social Sciences
October 22, 2014

Social Medias Effect on Political Socialization

Introduction
Membership to social networks has afforded citizens the ability to engage in
discourse with virtual friends and participate in social movements. However, while it is
easy to recognize the conveniences the internet has afforded society, one must also
question how the use of social media has affected public opinion and influenced political
socialization. The use of social media by political entities is increasingly popular as
society moves away from their newspapers and towards their gadgets. In the modern
age, nearly all political actors utilize social media and networking to propagate
information, which lead scholars to question whether this technological shift has
impacted public opinion by influencing political participation and if these effects can be
quantified.
Methodology
When gathering research, I began by searching the JSTOR database and the
political science book collections at the Northeastern University library. I used Boolean
operators and search terms related to my topic, hovering around terms such as political
socialization, social media, political cognition and e-society. After my first round
of searches, I went through the bibliographies of the works I selected to find more
articles related to my piece, which is how I encountered the immensely helpful and
relevant work by Zheng, et al. which is often cited in my literature review.
Initially, I attempted to find sources with empirical studies tying social media use
to victorious political campaigns. I searched for scholarly sources that quantified the
impact of social media on political outcomes, but was surprisingly unable to find more
than one work analyzing this subject. I was able to find one work which attempts to
quantify votes earned by social media through an analysis of President Obamas 2008

Social Medias Effect on Political Socialization

campaign and the 2010 Dutch Parliamentary elections, which I will use as a case study
in my literature review.
Terminology
It is important to make the distinction between social media and social networks:
social media is the content shared, whereas social networks are the platforms in which
social media exists. Social media is an effective content-based tool used by governments,
groups, news media, and individuals to spread information to the masses in a relatively
cheap and instantaneous manner (Maarek 2011).
The concept of the multiplier effect, observed by many experts and mentioned
throughout the piece, explains the contagious effect of social media as a result of the
speed and manner by which information is shared.
Zheng et al. define political participation as any actions taken to directly or
indirectly influence the outcome of public policy or the selection of elected officials.
Online socialization defines ones virtual simulation of their friends and followers with
similar interests or common backgrounds (Sunstein 2008). The hybrid of political
participation and online socialization creates political socialization, the concept that
who we are and who we know in the virtual world ultimately decide the extent of our
political cognition and civic participation (Gaines and Mondak 2009).
Social Media and its Effect on Political Cognition and Public Opinion
Zheng, Johnson, Selzter, and Bichard fuse the terms social media and social
network to create another idea: social capital. According to the authors, social capital
and political participation have a positive relationship. That is, a positive virtual
sociopolitical experience will yield a positive trend toward more political socialization
(Zheng et al. 2010).

Social Medias Effect on Political Socialization

One issue that complicates political socialization through social networking is the
fact that an individuals network of friends may be ideologically homogenous, which
limits ones exposure to diverse political information if it is not prioritized within their
community (Gaines and Mondak 2009). Another issue with homogenous networks is
that the information that is publicized is very polarized and may not be ideologically
challenged by ones like minded friends, which leads to unproductive discussion on
political views (Sunstein 2008). Zheng et al. offer the caveat that although social
networks may open one up to political discourse, an individuals choice to participate is
wholly voluntary and if the desire to engage is not present, it is unlikely they will
regardless of their peers.
Regardless, Zheng et al. acknowledge that social media increases political
cognition. An individual may receive preliminary information on a candidate or issue by
glancing through their news feed, and will consciously or subconsciously absorb the
information and come to an internal opinion or conclusion (Postelnicu and Cozma
2008). In a study performed by Postelnicu and Cozma, they concluded that individuals
were more likely to research 2006 congressional races after discovering their friends
support of a candidate on MySpace. Such a phenomenon is an example of the multiplier
effect, which explains the transmittable qualities of social media and self-publicizing
and their effect on socialization (Spierings and Jacobs 2014).
Zheng et al. ultimately deduct that an individuals political attitudes will be
influenced by whether they had a positive or negative interaction on the internet. That
is, whether they engaged in constructive political discourse and debate, or whether the
experience was intolerant and polarized. The extent to which social networks impact
societys political leanings is hard to study empirically.

Social Medias Effect on Political Socialization

Social Media and its Effect on Political Engagement

Nathaniel Swigger says that although all networks are different, they all share an
aspect in common which is their allowance and encouragement of self-publicizing and
reading the publications of others in form of Facebook statuses, Tweets, et cetera. On a
social network such as Facebook or Twitter, users digitize their social lives by following
actual friends, family and acquaintances (Maarek 2011). Individuals are welcomed to the
site with a prompt allowing them to share their personal details and opinions in a way
which was non-existent and outside of the norm a decade ago (Swigger 2013).
Swiggers study found that the self-publicizing feature reflected an individuals
value of their freedom of expression, which lent itself to political participation whether
or not the person was predisposed to engage in political discourse. People self-publicize
opinions about current events regardless of their intention is to spark a conversation
about politics (Swigger 2013).
There is a high level of trust that exists with receiving information through this
medium that does not exist through mass media and broadcast news (Zheng et al.
2010). Because these blurbs of information and opinion are coming from our friends,
we give them more value and give the ideas thought, whether consciously or not
(Sunstein 2008). Consequentially, the relationship between associations and political
participation is in effect a virtuous circle: once one friend becomes politically active on
social networks, it creates a trend and multiplies through said persons friends, their
friends and so on, defining the multiplier effect in terms of socialization by friends
(Zheng et al. 2010).

Social Medias Effect on Political Socialization

Social Media Use by Politicians and Candidates for Office

The impact of trust in social networks is something candidates for office have
capitalized on (Maarek 2011). Facebook allows candidates to share personal
information, such as their hobbies, intimate pictures of their family, and sociodemographic characteristics. This information creates a personality centered campaign,
where people who find commonality or connection to this information find the
candidate more favorable (Spierings and Jacobs 2014).
Although the image portrayed by their use of social media is highly tailored, a
candidates use of social networks to connect with voters increases political discourse
and allows for saliency and name recognition (Spierings and Jacobs 2014). Maarek,
however, agrees that there is value in the buzz surrounding a candidates shared media
and cites Barack Obamas first presidential campaign and the popularity of his
resonating catchphrase Yes We Can as a result of viral media shared online (Maarek
2011). The Obama campaigns use of Facebook to publicize events, fundraise, attract
volunteers and allow individuals to self-publicize their support of him onto their page
with shareable media created a multiplier effect which made support for him almost
contagious (Zheng et al.).
Zheng et al. argue that correct use of social media can lead to a successful
campaign and victory. Philippe Maarek acknowledges the political attractiveness of
having a social networking page, but offers the condition which argues that the social
media shared is artificial and tailored to specific voter bases. Spierings and Jacobs
agree, stating that the presence of a social networking page is not merely enough but
offers a more human point of view aside from a candidates campaign platform.

Social Medias Effect on Political Socialization

There is also a symbolic value to a candidates Facebook page which makes them
appear to be modern, forward thinking and far from old fashioned (Spierings and
Jacobs 2014).Zheng et al. study Barack Obamas 2008 campaign and credit his
knowledge of technology and the internet to giving him an upper hand over John
McCain, whose rejection of social media made him appear old-fashioned and distant to
the younger voter base.
Empirical Analysis: Does the multiplier effect equal votes?
Although experts in the field agree more research needs to be done in this area,
Dutch researchers Niels Spierings and Kristof Jacobs have attempted to calculate the
importance of social media on political outcomes. Research by Spierings and Jacobs
shows that candidates for office are eager to participate in self-publicizing on social
networks, but few people follow candidates. Spierings and Jacobs discuss how the
American tradition of grassroots campaigning has evolved into using social media to
campaign for electoral support. The researchers analyze Barack Obamas 2008
Presidential campaign and their revolutionary use of social media, especially their
utilization of Facebook, to come to their conclusions (Spierings and Jacobs 2014).
Spierings and Jacobss findings support the claim of the multiplier effect as it
pertains to preferential voting. Their study, which analyzed the use of Twitter by 493
major party candidates in the 2010 Dutch Parliamentary elections, found that social
networking sites are only effective if used often. Spierings and Jacobs found that every
tweet sent from the candidates page added 11 votes per 1,000 followers due to the
multiplier effect. That one tweet would be shared by a supporter, whose friends would
see it and prefer that candidate over their opponent.

Social Medias Effect on Political Socialization

10

Conclusion
Ultimately, social scientists have successfully defined social media and its effect
on our political cognition and participation. Niels Spierings and Kristof Jacobss attempt
at quantifying the multiplier effect and its impact on political outcomes are a good
indicator of a positive relationship between social media and electoral success. That
said, experts in the field generally conclude that more research will yield more accurate
results and lend more credibility to the figures presented by Spierings and Jacobs. Social
media and social networks are a nascent technology, which lends an excuse for why
more work hasnt been done, but it appears to be an opportune time to empirically study
the effects of our virtual societies as they become more relevant and influential in
everyday life.

Social Medias Effect on Political Socialization

11

Bibliography
Gaines, Brian J. and Jeffrey J. Mondak. Typing Together? Clusterting of Ideological
Types in Online Social Networks. Journal of Information Technology and Politics
6. 2009: (216-231).
Goodnow, Trischa. Facing Off: A Comparative Analysis of Obama and Romney
Facebook Timeline Photographs. American Behavioral Scientist 57. 2013:
(1584-1595).
Jacobs, Kristof and Dr. Niels Spierings. Getting Personal? The Impact of Social Media
on Preferential Voting. Political Behavior 36. 2014: (215-234).
Maarek, Philippe. Campaign Communication and Political Marketing. (West Sussex:
Wiley Blackwell, 2011) 158-175.
Postelnicu, M. and Raluca Cosma. Social Network Politics: A Content Aanalysis of
MySpace Profiles of Political Candidates From the 2006 U.S. Midterms.
National Communication Association. 2007.
Swigger, Nathaniel. The Online Citizen: Is Social Media Changing Citizens Beliefs
About Democratic Values? Political Behavior 35. 2013: (589-603).
Sunstein, Cass. Democracy and the Internet. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2007).
Zhang, Weiwu, Thomas J. Johnson, Trent Seltzer, and Shannon L. Bichard. The
Revolution Will Be Networked: The Influence of Social Networking Sites on
Political Attitudes and Behavior. Social Science Computer Review 28. 2010: (7592).