What Drives U.S. Congressional Members’ Policy Attention on Twitter?

Hemphill, Libby; Russell, Annelise; Schöpke‐Gonzalez, Angela M.

doi:10.1002/poi3.245

Cited by 29 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…To test these expectations, we use data from Hemphill et al (2021) that topic codes all tweets by the official accounts of members of the 115th Congress, 1 totaling ∼1.47 million tweets. 2 More than 53% of the tweets were policy-related while other tweets mentioned sports teams, birthdays/holidays, and local constituents.…”

Section: Methodology and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Increasingly, Congress shares policy information in 280-character quips. Fenno’s (1978) expectation that lawmakers prioritize good public policy is somewhat realized on congressional Twitter where policy accounts for more than half of those tweets (Hemphill et al, 2021; Russell, 2021). Lawmakers are spending more time and attention publicizing their policy priorities for a digital constituency, but how lawmakers present themselves on Twitter is hardly universal, and the message variability has implications for policy and representation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Different Chambers, Divergent Rhetoric: Institutional Differences and Policy Representation on Social Media

Smith

Russell

2022

American Politics Research

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For the past decade, members of both the House and Senate have increasingly used Twitter to curate a political agenda, but some are better equipped to drive digital policy conversations—even on a public platform with few constraints, low costs, and outsized user discretion. This research note explores the variable digital representation between congressional chambers, using tweets from the 115th Congress to illustrate asymmetric patterns in lawmakers’ rhetorical agendas on Twitter and the role of policy for self-presentation. Senators tweet more frequently, more often about policy, and represent a more diverse agenda on the platform. In this note, we suggest senators’ additional resources and incentives for policy expertise shape important differences in digital engagement, illustrating the prevailing importance of institutional nuance for understanding how lawmakers use Twitter to frame their political reputations.

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Section: Methodology and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Different Chambers, Divergent Rhetoric: Institutional Differences and Policy Representation on Social Media

Smith

Russell

2022

American Politics Research

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…In relation to the second area, past research has found that female politicians tend to talk more about issues that predominantly affect women (Pearson and Dancey 2011). Moreover, although there are only minor gender differences in communication styles in some cases (Hrbková and Macková 2020), in general gender and party have an effect on what women tweet about (Hemphill et al 2020;Johnstonbaugh 2020;Evans and Clark 2016).…”

Section: The Role Of Gender and Party On Twittermentioning

confidence: 99%

Bridging the Gap: How Gender Influences Spanish Politicians’ Activity on Twitter

Guerrero-Solé

Perales-García

2021

Journalism and Media

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Women have historically been underrepresented in politics. However, in the last few decades, more and more women have been elected to both upper and lower houses, particularly in Spain. Social media has become one >of the main channels for women to gain visibility, but the issue of unequal distribution of power and influence between men and women remains. This paper sheds light on gender differences among politicians on Twitter by analyzing the social media activity and influence of 277 of the 350 Members of the Spanish Congress of Deputies from March to June 2020. Our research shows there are still major gender differences regarding audience figures and amplification and that both male and female politicians still largely retweet more men than women. In addition, we found significant differences between parties and across the political spectrum, although these are less prominent (albeit not neutralized) in parties with a female leader. This is in keeping with studies that have found broad similarities between male and female politicians’ communicative practices, but a persistently large gap to be bridged in terms of their online influence. Female leaders are proposed as a means to bridge this gap.

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“…Specifically, Members of Congress turn to social media to gather public opinion (Hemphill et al, 2020).…”

Section: Information Access and Gauging Constituent Preferencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using social media to understand constituent and follower opinions: impact of “low quality” on US Senator information gathering

Straus

2022

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand why some US Senators have more low-quality followers than others and the potential impact of low-quality followers on understanding constituent preferences. Design/methodology/approach For each US Senator, data on Twitter followers was matched with demographic characteristics proven to influence behavior. An OLS regression model evaluated why some Senators attract more low-quality followers than others. Then, observations on the impact of low-quality followers were discussed along with potential effects on information gathering and constituent representation. Findings This study finds that total followers, ideology and length of time on Twitter are all significant predictors of whether a Senator might attract low-quality followers. Low-quality followers can have wide-ranging implications on Senator’s use of social media data to represent constituents and develop public policy. Research limitations/implications The data set only includes Senators from the 115th Congress (2017–2018). As such, future research could expand the data to include additional Senators or members of the House of Representatives. Practical implications Information is essential in any decision-making environment, including legislatures. Understanding why some users, particularly public opinion leaders, attract more low-quality social media followers could help decision-makers better understand where information is coming from and how they might choose to evaluates its content. Social implications This study finds two practical implications for public opinion leaders, including Senators. First, accounts must be actively monitored to identify and weed-out low-quality followers. Second, users need to be wary of disinformation and misinformation and they need to develop strategies to identify and eliminate it from the collection of follower preferences. Originality/value This study uses a unique data set to understand why some Senators have more low-quality followers than others and the impact on information gathering. Other previous studies have not addressed this issue in the context of governmental decision-making or constituent representation.

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What Drives U.S. Congressional Members’ Policy Attention on Twitter?

Cited by 29 publications

References 79 publications

Different Chambers, Divergent Rhetoric: Institutional Differences and Policy Representation on Social Media

Different Chambers, Divergent Rhetoric: Institutional Differences and Policy Representation on Social Media

Bridging the Gap: How Gender Influences Spanish Politicians’ Activity on Twitter

Using social media to understand constituent and follower opinions: impact of “low quality” on US Senator information gathering

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