Encyclopedia of Social Media and Politics

The Encyclopedia of Social Media and Politics is a three volume work from Sage that explores the rise of social media effects on politics in the United States and around the world. 

Edited by Kerric Harvey of George Washington University, the work carries over 600 essays that fall in general topic areas: Celebrities and Pioneers in Social Media; Congressional Social Media Usage, Measuring Social Media's Impact; Misuse of Social Media in the Political Arena; Social Media, Candidates and Campaigns; Social Media, Politics and Culture; Social Media and Networking Web Sites; Social Media and Political Unrest, Social Media and Social Activism; Social Media Concepts and Theories; Social Media Regulation, Public Policy and Actual Practice; and Social Media Types, Innovation and Technology.  

Volume III includes not only a good resource guide of related books, journals and websites but  a detailed appendix tracking social media usage by U.S. Senators and Congressmen--what platforms they use, and the number and frequency of their posts.

These volumes are a good place for beginners and more seasoned researchers to start their investigation of this rapidly transforming area of two interlocking fields, communication and political science.  Available in the Reference section of the Annenberg Library.

Diana Mutz's HEARING THE OTHER SIDE: An Assessment

Critical Review (Volume 25, Issue 2) features a Symposium on Diana Mutz's 2006 Hearing the Other Side: Deliberative Versus Participatory Democracy. 

Five scholars consider the theoretical claims of this work: The Accidental Theorist: Diana Mutz's Normative and Empirical Insights (Ben Berger); The Many Faces of Good Citizenship (Simone Chambers); On Minimal Deliberation, Partisan Activism, and Teaching People How to Disagree (Helene Landemore); Hearing the Opposition (Robert Shapiro); Digital Deliberation (Chris Wisniewski). Dr. Mutz rounds out the proceedings with a response: Reflections on Hearing the Other Side, in Theory and in Practice. 

Hearing the Other Side is available in the Library at Van Pelt and Annenberg, and the journal is available through Penn Libraries e-resources. 

Analysis of 2012 Candidate FB Pages in Online Information Review

You've heard a lot about the impact of social media on political campaigns--only a matter of time before someone did a content analysis of Obama/Romney camp Facebook posts.  Online Information Review (Volume 37, Issue 2, 2013) features research that compares the 2012 candidate's Facebook pages by analyzing 513 posts in the three months leading up to election day. 

Like me!: Analyzing the 2012 presidential candidates' Facebook pages
Jenny Bronstein

ABSTRACT

Purpose. The present study reports the findings of a qualitative and quantitative content analysis of the Facebook pages of the two presidential candidates in the 2012 US presidential election.

Design/methodology/approach - Design. The sample contained 513 posts collected during the last three months of the 2012 US presidential election. The analysis of the candidates’ pages consisted of three phases: (1) the identification of the different elements of the Aristotelian language of persuasion, (2) the identification of the subjects that appear on the posts, (3) the identification of additional roles that the Facebook pages play in the campaigns.

Findings - Findings. Findings show that both candidates used an emotional and motivational appeal to create a social capital and to present a personal image that revealed very little of their personal lives. Statistical analysis show the numbers of comments and likes given to the posts were influenced by the element of persuasion used on the posts. Results show that campaigns wanted to retain control of the message displayed on the pages by posting information on a small number of non-controversial subjects. Finally, the content analysis revealed that the Facebook pages were used for fund-raising purposes, and for the mobilization of supporters. The Facebook pages of both candidates present an alternative way to do politics called fandom politics that is based not on logic or reason but on the affective sensibility of the audiences, discouraging dissent and encouraging affective allegiances between the candidate and his supporters.

Originality/value - Value of the study. This study presents an innovative way of analyzing the use of social media sites as a tool for the dissemination of political information and reveals utilization of these media for the creation of social and economic capital by politicians.

Social Influnce Special Retrospective Issue

The journal Social Influence has put out a special online edition in honor of this election season featuring a selection of articles from previous issues exploring the psychological processes at work in a variety of aspects of individual and social persuasion "focusing on the many ways in which our political outlooks and decisions can be deliberately shaped." Penn doesn't currently subscribe to this journal but we will beginning 2013. In the meantime, you can email me if you want to get your hands on any of these articles--if my promotional link is still working I can share; if not there is always our trusty InterLibrary Loan.

Presidential Election Online Special Issue
When My Country Is at War: Issue Importance & Interpersonal Influence Lead Iraq War Attitudes to Cluster within Social Networks by Jerry G. Cullum, Bradley M. Okdie, Helen C. Harton (Vol. 6:4, 2011, 231-248).

Attitudes to Cluster within Social Networks by Jerry G. Cullum, Bradley M. Okdie & Helen C. Harton (Vol. 6:4, 2011, 231-248).

Motives for Social Influence after Social Change: Are New Majorities Power Hungry? by P. Niels Christensen, Radmila Prislin, Elizabeth Jacobs (Vol. 4:3, 2009, 200-215).

How “Undocumented Workers” & “Illegal Aliens” Affect Prejudice toward Mexican Immigrants by Matthew R. Pearson M.S. (Vol. 5:2, 2010, 118-132).

Status Quo Framing Increases Support for Torture by Christian S. Crandall, Scott Eidelman, Linda J. Skitka, G. Scott Morgan (Vol. 4:1, 2009, 1-10).

Right-wing Face, Left-wing Faces: The Matching Effect in the Realm of Political Persuasion by Nicoletta Cavazza, Anna Rita Graziani, Alessandra Serpe, Sandro Rubichi (Vol. 5:1, 2010, 1-22)

The Persuasiveness of the Straw Man Rhetorical Technique by George Y. Bizer, Shirel M. Kozak, Leigh Ann Holterman (Vol. 4:3, 2009, 216-230).

Boasting, Burnishing & Burying in the Eyes of the Perceivers by Nurit Tal-Or (Vol. 3:3, 2008, 202-222).

Why I Am Less Persuaded Than You: Intuitive Understanding of the Psychology of Persuasion by Karen M. Douglas, Robbie M. Sutton, Sofia Stathi (Vol. 5:2, 2010, 133-148).

Policy & Internet

The Policy Studies Organization has a rich website given the list of open access journals they publish, including Policy & Internet, Poverty & Public Policy, Risk, Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy, World Medical and Health Policy, and, coming soon, Online Education.

The latest issue of Policy & Internet is on the subject of eHealth, as described below by editors Rik Crutzen, (Maastricht University) and Guodong (Gordon) Gao, (University of Maryland):

The explosive growth of the Internet and its omnipresence in people's daily lives has facilitated a shift in information seeking on health, with the Internet now a key information source for the general public, patients, and health professionals. The Internet has also driven an increase in eHealth initiatives, ranging from Internet-delivered interventions and therapy focusing on specific behaviors or diseases, to maintenance of electronic health records. A lack of policy measures is a common barrier to success of eHealth initiatives; we hope that the empirical research and perspectives gathered here in this Policy & Internet special issue on eHealth will make a significant impact among eHealth policymakers, academics, and professionals, and make a valuable contribution to future policy and research efforts in this area.

For political communication types check out PSO's upcoming conference  in September 2012. Internet, Politics, Policy 2012: Big Data, Big Challenges?

Health and Poli-Comm Reference Books

Two solid reference volumes from Routledge published this year are The Routledge Handbook of Health Communication and Sourcebook for Political Communication Research: Methods Measures, and Analytical Techniques.

The Handbook (edited by Teresa L Thompson, Roxanne Parrott, and Jon F. Nussbaurm, 2001) is in its second edition but revamped to "emphasize work in such areas as barriers to disclosure in family conversations and medical interactions, access to popular media and advertising, and individual searches online for information and support to guide decisions and behaviors with health consequences." You can also find overviews on methods.

The Sourcebook, (edited by Erik P. Brucy and R. Lance Holbert, 2011) is a benchmark resource covering "the major analytical techniques used in political communication research, including surveys, experiments, content analysis, discourse analysis (focus groups and textual analysis), network and deliberation analysis, comparative study designs, statistical analysis, and measurement issues. It also includes such innovations as the use of advanced statistical techniques, and addresses digital media as a means through which to disseminate as well as study political communication."

Both volumes are available in the Annenberg Library Reference (just ask if you want to take them home) at JA 86 s68 2011 (Sourcebook) and R 118 H26 2011 (Handbook).

Two New Reference Books on Social Movement Media, Political Communication

Encyclopedia of Social Movement Media, edited by John D. H. Downing (Sage, 2010). A one-volume encyclopedia featuring over 250 essays on the role of media in social movements in the 20th and 21st centuries. "Thematic essays address selected issues such as human rights media, indigenous peoples' media, and environmentalist media, and on key concepts widely used in the field such as alternative media, citizens' media, and community media. The encyclopedia engages with all communication media: broadcasting, print, cinema, the Internet, popular song, street theater, graffiti, and dance" (publisher's website).

Key themes include: Cinema, Television, and Video; Cultural Contestations; Feminist Media; Gay and Lesbian Media; Human Rights Media; Independence Movement Media; Indigenous Peoples' Media; Information Policy Activism; Internet;Labor Media; News; Performance Art Media; Popular Song; Press; Radio; and Regions.

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Sourcebook for Political Communication Research:Methods, Measures, and Analytical Techniques, by Erik P. Bucy, R. Lance Holbert (Routledge, 2010).

"...covers the major analytical techniques used in political communication research, including surveys, experiments, content analysis, discourse analysis (focus groups and textual analysis), network and deliberation analysis, comparative study designs, statistical analysis, and measurement issues. It also includes such innovations as the use of advanced statistical techniques, and addresses digital media as a means through which to disseminate as well as study political communication. It considers the use of methods adapted from other disciplines, such as psychology, sociology, and neuroscience." --Publisher's website

Look for the chapter co-authored by Kathleen Hall Jamieson with Kate Kenski (ASC alum '06) and Jeffrey Gottfried (ASC PhD candidate) titled: The Rolling Cross-Section: Design and Utility for Political Research.

Both these title can be found at in ASC Reference.

The Rothenberg Political Report

For all you political junkies out there, Penn Libraries now subscribes to THE ROTHENBERG POLITICAL REPORT, a non-partisan newsletter covering U.S. House, Senate, and gubernatorial campaigns, Presidential politics, and political developments. Some of the pieces that appear in the Report are reprinted from Roll Call, where the Report's editor and publisher, Stuart Rothenberg, is a twice-a-week columnist. Rothenberg is an academic (holds a Ph.D. in political science, has taught) but these days is one of the most respected political analysts/observers on the Washington scene. From his bio: "A frequent soundbite, Mr. Rothenberg has appeared on Meet the Press, This Week, Face the Nation, The NewsHour, Nightline and many other television programs. He is often quoted in the nation’s major media, and his op-eds have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and other newspapers." The Rothenberg Report's archive on the site goes back to 2005.

C-SPAN Video Library

Last week C-SPAN announced the completion of its the C-SPAN Video Library, a freely available Internet resource featuring every C-SPAN program aired since 1987, totaling over 160,000 hours. The Archives records all three C-SPAN networks seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day. Programs are extensively indexed making the database of C-SPAN programming an unparalleled chronological resource. Programs are indexed by subject, speaker names, titles, affiliations, sponsors, committees, categories, formats, policy groups, keywords, and location. The congressional sessions and committee hearings are indexed by person with full-text. The video collection can be searched through the online Video Library.

These archives cover 23 years of history and five presidential administrations. Though C-Span was established in 1979, recordings from the early years are spotty. But according to a recent New York Times article, C-SPAN has about 10,000 hours of tapes from before 1987 and plans to reformat them for the Web are already in motion.

Needless to say, this is an awesome historical resource and on top of that, the site is advertisement free.

Two New Internet Reports

Two recent reports of interest:

Technorati's State of the Blogosphere 2009

Since 2004... annual study has followed the growth and trends in the blogosphere. [The 2009 report] dives deeper dive into the entire blogosphere, with a focus on professional bloggers. This year’s topics include: professional blogging activities, brands in the blogosphere, monetization, twitter & micro-blogging and bloggers’ impact on US and World events.

You can see the other reports going back to 2004 at the site as well.

2009 Digital Influence in News and Politics Report October 2009, Sparxoo

Abstract

Never before have so many tools been available to analyze and clarify digital influence. The 2009 Digital Influence in News and Politics Report leverages these tools to measure the influence of those best-in-class media companies in the digital sphere.

Sparxoo evaluated over 100 news and politics media outlets (from the New York Times to the Daily Beast to NPR) in a comprehensive study of content, social and multimedia influence.

The Report crowns CNN as the #1 digital influencer, followed by The New York Times (a pleasant surprise for “The Gray Lady”). The Digital Influencer in News and Politics Report confirms and debunks many of the long-held media myths perpetuated by marketers, brand managers and other business leaders. It is through these findings that we can re-align the media compass to find tomorrow’s true north.