Abstract / Description of output
When Donald Trump won the Republican nomination and subsequently beat Hillary Clinton in the presidential elections, his success came as a surprise to most observers. This research contributes to understanding the dynamics of this unusual campaign, in which social media played a prominent role. We collected 6099 tweets by both nominees during the presidential primaries and identified the 21 most frequently discussed issues through computer-assisted content analysis. Secondly, we used time series analysis to investigate whether the candidates influenced each other’s political agendas. Most tweets by the candidates were found not to be about policy but about parties, other politicians, and the media. Of the political issues that were discussed, the most prominent ones were employment, family, minorities and terrorism. For tweets about minorities, we found possible evidence of agenda setting. We conclude that social media are mainly being used to reach out to supporters, instead of interacting with the opponent.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Network Intelligence Meets User Centered Social Media Networks |
Editors | Reda Alhajj, H. Ulrich Hoppe, Tobias Hecking, Piotr Bródka, Przemyslaw Kazienko |
Place of Publication | Cham |
Publisher | Springer |
Pages | 201-217 |
Number of pages | 17 |
ISBN (Print) | 978-3-319-90312-5 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Aug 2018 |
Event | 4th European Network Intelligence Conference - Duisburg, Germany Duration: 11 Sept 2017 → 12 Sept 2017 https://enic.collide.info/ |
Publication series
Name | Lecture Notes in Social Networks |
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ISSN (Electronic) | 2190-5428 |
Conference
Conference | 4th European Network Intelligence Conference |
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Abbreviated title | ENIC 2017 |
Country/Territory | Germany |
City | Duisburg |
Period | 11/09/17 → 12/09/17 |
Internet address |