Social Media and European Politics: Rethinking Power and Legitimacy in the Digital Era (Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology)

This volume investigates the role of social media in European politics in changing the focus, frames and actors of public discourse around the EU decision-making process. Throughout the collection, the contributors test the hypothesis that the internet and social media are promoting a structural transformation of European public spheres which goes well beyond previously known processes of mediatisation of EU politics. This transformation addresses more fundamental challenges in terms of changing power relations, through processes of active citizen empowerment and exertion of digitally networked counter-power by civil society, news media, and political actors, as well as rising contestation of representative legitimacy of the EU institutions. __Social Media and European Politics__ offers a comprehensive approach to the analysis of political agency and social media in European Union politics, by bringing together scholarly works from the fields of public sphere theory, digital media, political networks, journalism studies, euroscepticism, political activism and social movements, political parties and election campaigning, public opinion and audience studies. Social Media and European Politics 4 Preface 6 Acknowledgements 8 Contents 10 List of Abbreviations and Acronyms 12 List of Figures 13 List of Tables 15 1 Do We Need to Rethink EU Politics in the Social Media Era? An Introduction to the Volume 17 EU Politicisation and the Role of the Media 21 EU Politicisation and Digital Media: Towards the Rise of Citizen Europeanism? 23 Towards a Social Media Approach to Power in the EU 26 References 35 2 Social Media, Personalisation of News Reporting, and Media Systems’ Polarisation in Europe 40 Political Parallelism, Social Media, and Journalists’ Self-Branding 43 Research Design 47 Data and Methods 50 Results 55 Conclusions 62 References 64 3 Engaging with European Politics Through Twitter and Facebook: Participation Beyond the National? 68 The Participatory and Transnational Promises of Social Media 68 Styles and Degrees of Engagement on Social Media 71 Digital Architectures: The Technological Differences Between Facebook and Twitter 77 European Politics on Facebook and Twitter: Factual, Partisan and Moral Content Illustrated 81 Conclusion 86 References 88 4 A Digital Movement of Opinion? Contesting Austerity Through Social Media 92 Towards a Theory of Digital Movements of Opinion 94 The Research Setting: Europeanised Communications and the EU Election Campaign 98 Data, Methods, and Hypotheses 99 Results 107 Conclusion 113 Appendix 114 References 116 5 Building Contention Word-by-Word: Social Media Usage in the European Stop ACTA Movement 120 The Stop ACTA Mobilisation 122 Participatory Coordination and Informal Civic Learning 124 Findings 127 Conclusions 129 References 132 6 Campaigning for Gender Equality Through Social Media: The European Women’s Lobby 138 Women’s Online Advocacy 142 Social Media as an Advocacy Tool 143 The EWL’s Online Advocacy: Unfulfilled Potential? 147 The Extent of the EWLs Social Media Use 148 Discussion and Conclusion 151 References 154 7 A Framework for Evaluating European Social Media Publics: The Case of the European Parliament’s Facebook Page 158 No Public Sphere Without a Public 158 Conceptualising the Public on Social Media 161 The Public as a Potential 161 The Public as Content 163 The Public as Discourse 163 A Framework for Evaluating the European Public on Facebook 164 Research Design and Hypotheses 165 Mapping European Facebook Publics 167 The Visible Public 167 Attention 168 Discursive Capacity 169 Critical Function 175 Identity 176 Conclusions: A Polite European Facebook Public 177 References 179 8 Extreme Right, the Internet and European Politics in CEE Countries: The Cases of Slovakia and the Czech Republic 181 The research: methods, sources and cases 185 The Structure of Extreme Right Online Networks 189 Extreme Right Discourses on European Integration 194 Conclusion 200 References 202 9 Social Media as Propaganda Tools: The Greek Conservative Party and National Elections 207 Social Media and Politics in Crisis’ Times 207 Social Media and Electoral Campaigns 210 The Background and the Sociopolitical Challenges of the January 2015 Elections in Greece and Europe 212 Empirical Research and Frame Analysis 213 The Catastrophe Frame 214 The Conservative Frame: Anticommunism and Nationalism 218 The Europeanist Frame: Stability, Competitiveness, Entrepreneurialism, Technocracy 220 Slandering and the Caricaturing of Political Opponents 222 Conclusions 225 References 227 10 Mediated Frustration and Self-Legitimation 233 Crisis as Norm 234 Handling Legitimacy Deficit 236 ‘Social’ Mediation 238 Articulations of Frustration 242 Loyalty: Co-Optation of Opposition 242 The ‘Social’ Exit 244 Populist Voice 246 Self-Legitimation 249 Conclusion 251 References 252 11 Twitter, Public Engagement and the Eurocrisis: More than an Echo Chamber? 255 The Role of Social Media in Crisis Communication 256 Digital Media and the Eurocrisis: An Echo-Chamber for Blame-Games or Alternative Public Sphere? 259 Conceptualising Public Engagement: Echo and Refraction on Social Media 261 Method 263 Sampling 264 Findings 267 Archive Profile 267 Duplication and Sentiment 268 Profiling of Top Influencers 269 Discussion 273 References 276 12 Debating Responsibility on the Eurozone Crisis in Traditional Media Newspaper Reporting in Greece and Germany Under a Social Media Lens 281 Conceptual Framework 284 Inclusiveness of the Debate 284 The Focus on Blame 285 Transnational Links 286 Differences Between Sets of Sources 288 Discursive Actor Attribution Analysis 290 Patterns of the Eurozone Crisis Debate 2009–2013 292 Inclusiveness of the Debate 292 Blaming Focus 295 Transnational Communicative Links 296 Lessons Learned 298 References 300 Index 305 Front Matter....Pages i-xvi Do We Need to Rethink EU Politics in the Social Media Era? An Introduction to the Volume....Pages 1-23 Social Media, Personalisation of News Reporting, and Media Systems’ Polarisation in Europe....Pages 25-52 Engaging with European Politics Through Twitter and Facebook: Participation Beyond the National?....Pages 53-76 A Digital Movement of Opinion? Contesting Austerity Through Social Media....Pages 77-104 Building Contention Word-by-Word: Social Media Usage in the European Stop ACTA Movement....Pages 105-122 Campaigning for Gender Equality Through Social Media: The European Women’s Lobby....Pages 123-142 A Framework for Evaluating European Social Media Publics: The Case of the European Parliament’s Facebook Page....Pages 143-165 Extreme Right, the Internet and European Politics in CEE Countries: The Cases of Slovakia and the Czech Republic....Pages 167-192 Social Media as Propaganda Tools: The Greek Conservative Party and National Elections....Pages 193-218 Mediated Frustration and Self-Legitimation....Pages 219-240 Twitter, Public Engagement and the Eurocrisis: More than an Echo Chamber?....Pages 241-266 Debating Responsibility on the Eurozone Crisis in Traditional Media Newspaper Reporting in Greece and Germany Under a Social Media Lens....Pages 267-290 Back Matter....Pages 291-309 This Volume Investigates The Role Of Social Media In European Politics In Changing The Focus, Frames And Actors Of Public Discourse Around The Eu Decision-making Process. Throughout The Collection, The Contributors Test The Hypothesis That The Internet And Social Media Are Promoting A Structural Transformation Of European Public Spheres Which Goes Well Beyond Previously Known Processes Of Mediatisation Of Eu Politics. This Transformation Addresses More Fundamental Challenges In Terms Of Changing Power Relations, Through Processes Of Active Citizen Empowerment And Exertion Of Digitally Networked Counter-power By Civil Society, News Media, And Political Actors, As Well As Rising Contestation Of Representative Legitimacy Of The Eu Institutions. Social Media And European Politics Offers A Comprehensive Approach To The Analysis Of Political Agency And Social Media In European Union Politics, By Bringing Together Scholarly Works From The Fields Of Public Sphere Theory, Digital Media, Political Networks, Journalism Studies, Euroscepticism, Political Activism And Social Movements, Political Parties And Election Campaigning, Public Opinion And Audience Studies.-- Mauro Barisione, Asimina Michailidou. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. This volume investigates the role of social media in European politics in changing the focus, frames and actors of public discourse around the EU decision-making process. Throughout the collection, the contributors test the hypothesis that the internet and social media are promoting a structural transformation of European public spheres which goes well beyond previously known processes of mediatisation of EU politics. This transformation addresses more fundamental challenges in terms of changing power relations, through processes of active citizen empowerment and exertion of digitally networked counter-power by civil society, news media, and political actors, as well as rising contestation of representative legitimacy of the EU institutions. Social Media and European Politics offers a comprehensive approach to the analysis of political agency and social media in European Union politics, by bringing together scholarly works from the fields of public sphere theory, digital media, political networks, journalism studies, euroscepticism, political activism and social movements, political parties and election campaigning, public opinion and audience studies.-- Provided by Publisher