ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES, ONLINE SELF-PRESENTATION AND THE PERSONAL VOTE:Party, personality and webstyles in the United States and United Kingdom

Abstract

This article examines the way politicians package themselves to their constituents via the Web. It looks at various aspects of online self-promotion by incumbent representatives in two advanced industrial democracies -the US and the UK. It seeks to ascertain the extent to which personal qualities are a key aspect of an elected representative's online persona, and any differences that exist between these democracies with different electoral cultures. It concludes by considering the findings of empirical research and what it reveals about the relationship between national electoral cultures and the politician's persona.

Microblogging, Constituency Service and Impression Management: UK MPs and the Use of Twitter

“…Second, political actors seek to control the impression they give to maximise the impact on voters (De Landsteer 2004). Whilst the focus for political impression management research has been on how politicians shape perceptions via the media, there is evidence that the Internet may have significant potential as a persuasive channel for shaping perceptions (Stanyer 2008). Specifically considering websites, Stanyer (2008) argues that they provide elected representatives with space to present themselves to constituents.…”

“…Whilst the focus for political impression management research has been on how politicians shape perceptions via the media, there is evidence that the Internet may have significant potential as a persuasive channel for shaping perceptions (Stanyer 2008). Specifically considering websites, Stanyer (2008) argues that they provide elected representatives with space to present themselves to constituents. Gulati (2004), in assessing the use of their websites by members of Congress, found that they sought to promote different images: either as a 'Washington insider' or an 'outsider'.…”

Political Impression Management Through Direct and Mediated Communication: The 2014/2015 Croatian Presidential Elections

“…Larsson, 2015;Momoc, 2013;Ross, Fountaine, & Comrie 2015;Zamora Medina & Zurutuza Munoz, 2014). Furthermore, if social media is used to communicate information about the candidate, then this is mostly for the purpose of self-promotion as part of the impression management process (Golbeck, Grimes, & Rogers, 2010;Jackson & Lilleker, 2011;Stanyer, 2008). The second strand of research looks at the interplay of social media and other mediums during campaigns with a focus on the role of social media campaigning within broader political campaign efforts (e.g.…”

“…220-221) define political impression management as the employment of political marketing techniques with an aim of positioning candidates in the political sphere and persuading voters of candidates' suitability for political office. Previous studies have identified a range of techniques that politicians may employ in order to try to create a favourable impression during election campaigns, such as revealing details from private life (Langer, 2011;Stanyer, 2008), promoting their skills and virtues, attacking opponents (Edelman, 1988;Franklin, 2004) etc. Before the rise of social media, the major focus of research in political impression management was concerned with politicians' attempts to manage their impression via mass media (Campus, 2010;Lin, 2016).…”

“…With the increasing significance of social media in campaigning, the research focus has shifted to examining how politicians use this direct channel of communication with voters for creating desired impressions. Existing evidence suggests that some politicians have recognised the potential of direct communication with voters and have been using social media to manage their impression, particularly through self-promotion (Stanyer, 2008;Jackson & Lilleker, 2009Svensson, 2012).…”