What is this blog about? Well.....

This blog is about political communication on Facebook. I've posted a lot of information below but the President it going to outline the basic premise of my study:

He sums up my entire study in one sentence: "That's why we're going to try something a little different. We're going to take advantage of the internet, to bring all of you to the White House to talk about the economy." Politics is in the midst of a revolution. 

Rationale

Facebook was launched in 2004 at Harvard by then-student Mark Zuckerberg. Since its creation, it has grown exponentially and has become a social phenomenon with phrases such as “Facebook me” or “friend me” becoming commonplace slang in the English lexicon. Facebook has become the ordinary way to communicate with everyone, from one’s mother to their pen pal in South Africa. That being said, it was only a matter of time before politicians came to realize the political power of Facebook. By effectively utilizing Facebook, any voter can initiate discussion with a political leader and demand policy change. 

After all, this is the very nature of American democracy: access to political leader to demand change for our lives. Politics is all around and as citizens of a democratic society, it is our responsibility to stay well-informed on the activities of our elected officials. And Mr. Zuckerberg has provided an amazing outlet for such activity: Facebook. Basically, I seek to further understand how Facebook correlates political participation through volunteering, voting, and such. In addition, since most politicians now have an active Facebook page, I also seek to further understand how Americans attain political information in this age of social media.

Rationale

Facebook has become a vital part of, not only the American culture, but the entire world as a means to communicate with people halfway across the world. Facebook is open to anyone with access to a computer so it is only natural government officials are logging on and creating pages by the hundreds – whether these pages be directly supporting them or something they personally support. 

• Barack Obama’s personal Facebook page he has links to Let’s Move & Generation Forty-Four (Gen44) 
• John McCain likes the US Military on Facebook and advocates their policies through postings on his personal page. 

This illustrates the need for constant study of the relationship between political communication and Facebook. Political communication online is such a relatively new idea and Facebook only hastened the revolution. President Obama began the revolution, with his highly successful use of Facebook in the 2008 campaign, and has created the new benchmark for any politician seeking election. The benchmark stands thus: in order to get the vote you have to get people to your Facebook page.

Political campaigns are now run two ways, on the ground and online. 

Methods

1. Survey - conduct open-ended/yes-no survey with 500-1000 students from the ACTC schools surrounding Hamline and from the U of M. All must be between the ages of 18-25 and ACTIVE Facebook users (aka. they go on at least 3 times a day). They must also "like" a political leader/political news source on Facebook.

2. Content Analysis - I will use a number system to categorize and code the types of content both Barack Obama and John McCain posted during the last 6 months of the 2008 presidential election.

• During my content analysis, I will also look at the number of "shared" posts each politician had, which will allow me to see what types of information users responded to the most. 

Video

I found this video on YouTube and it outlines the relationship between the "users & gratifications model" and Facebook brilliantly

Theories

Uses and gratifications model of mass communication: 

• individuals utilize the Internet to their specific wants and needs - like Amazon.com. An individual logs onto Amazon.com to buy a specific product, more often than not. 
• “The motivations of Internet users are…not monolithic,” as stated by J. Baumgartner & J. Morris (2010). Instead individuals seek out information, buy products, to express opinions and develop relationships through various social media networks.  

Knowledge Gap Hypothesis: 

• technology has become more readily available and accessible to the general population, thus researchers have become to speculate discrepancies in internet use may be due to “skill gaps and not access inequalities” (S. Robertson et al., 2010).

Literature Review

• J. Baumgartner & J. Morris (2010) state in their study “MyFaceTube Politics” that the “media habits of the youth are…different from those of older citizens” and state it is the Internet which has come to dominate youth life. 
• In one form or another, the Internet and social-networking sites all dominate youth life. 
• S. Robertson, et al. (2010) “the Internet has clearly taken a significant new position in politics” after the 2008 election, citing then-Senator Obama’s use of  Facebook as a defining factor in his decisive victory. 
• Now, instead of reaching for the newspaper or turning on the radio, over 40% of individuals now use social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube “to engage in some political activity…” (W. Zhang, et al [2010]).
• Woolley, et al. (2010) state the foundations for my study perfectly when they say “the 2008 presidential election highlighted [Facebook] as a viable tool for political communication…” 
• Social media sites, particularly Facebook, have become the backbone of political communication because of the easy access. 
• In social media sites there is immense “possibility” for reciprocal communication, also according to Fernandes, et al (2010), as long as both parties are willing to participate in an open discussion. 
• Politicians need to be online which is why they have “populated these social sites…and utilize many of their tools for collecting funds, disseminating messages, creating groups, and initiating collective activities” (S. Robertson et al. [2010]). 
• Political discourse has moved online. 
• However, according to Metzgar & Maruggi (2010), “there is little evidence any…social media…venues drove discussion, participation, or outcomes” and are no replacement for personal motivation. 

Citations

Baumgartner, J. & Morris, J. (2010). MyFaceTube Politics: Social Networking Web Sites and Political Engagement of Young Adults. Social Science Computer Review, Vol. 28 (1), 24-44.

Fernades, J., Giurcan, M., Bowers K.W., & Neely, J.C. (2010). The Writing on the Wall: A Content Analysis of College Students’ Facebook Groups for the 2008 Presidential Election. Mass Communication & Society, Vol 13 (5), 653-675.

Metzgar, E. & Maruggi, A. (2009). Social Media and the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election. Journal of New Communications Research, Vol. 4 (1), 141-165.

Robertson, S., Vatrapu, R., & Medina, R. (2010). Off the Wall Political Discourse: Facebook Use in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election. Information Polity: the International Journal of Government & Democracy in the Information Age, Vol. 15 (1/2), 11-31.

Weiwu, Z., Johnson, T., Seltzer, T., & Bichard, S. (2010). The Revolution Will be Networked. Social Science Computer Review, Vol. 28 (1), 75-92.

Woolley, J. K., Limperos, A. M., & Oliver, M. B. (2010). The 2008 Presidential Election: A Content Analysis of User-Generated Political Facebook Groups. Mass Communication & Society, Vol. 13(5), 631-652.