Social Media and Politics Folgen

In late 2015, the Swedish government imposed border controls to stem the influx of migrants to Sweden from the refugee crisis. A small group of regional politicians in Southern Sweden set up a Facebook page, Öresundsrevolutionen, to protest the border controls. In this episode Niels Paarup-Petersen, a regional politician from the Center Party, shares his insight into how and why the movement to protest the border controls is taking place on Facebook. We discuss Öresundsrevolutionen's communication strategy on Facebook, the role social media plays in advocating its message, and how the movement is using Facebook to place pressure on the Swedish government to repeal the border controls.

Dr. Cristian Vaccari, one of the world's leading social media and political communication researchers, shares his insights about what "dual screening" during political events means for democracy and political participation. We discuss exactly what dual screening is, as well as Dr. Vaccari's recent prize-winning research finding that citizens who use Twitter during political debates are more likely to participate in politics during (and after) elections. Other topics covered in this episode are the role of social media in affecting citizens' exposure to news, why researchers are overly focused on Twitter, and what implications social media has for democracy in the digital age.