@JunckerEU vs. @MartinSchulz: How leading candidates in the 2014 European Parliament elections campaigned on Twitter

Authors

  • Shana Meganck James Madison University https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6411-5593
  • Jeanine Guidry Virginia Commonwealth University
  • Marcus Messner Virginia Commonwealth University
  • Vivian Medina-Messner Virginia Commonwealth University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v24i11.9856

Keywords:

Public Relations, Political Communication, Twitter Communication

Abstract

Twitter has become a valuable tool both for politicians trying to monitor conversations and communicate with constituents as well as for publics interested in discussing and engaging on political matters. This is the first study to research Twitter use during the 2014 European Parliament elections. Twitter posts by the two main candidates in the elections, Jean-Claude Juncker and Martin Schulz, were comparatively analyzed with specific emphasis on frequency of Twitter use, content of tweets and interaction levels. Results showed that unlike previous research studies on Twitter use by politicians, the candidate that used Twitter less often and used the interactive characteristics of Twitter less frequently won the election. However, the winning candidate focused significantly more on specific topics and functions of relevance to European voters, such as immigration and the targeting of specific EU countries.

Author Biography

Shana Meganck, James Madison University

School of Communication Studies

Assistant Professor

Downloads

Published

2019-11-01

How to Cite

Meganck, S., Guidry, J., Messner, M., & Medina-Messner, V. (2019). @JunckerEU vs. @MartinSchulz: How leading candidates in the 2014 European Parliament elections campaigned on Twitter. First Monday, 24(11). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v24i11.9856