Politicians’ social media usage in a hybrid media environment: A scoping review of the literature between 2008–2022

Abstract

In recent years, politicians and political parties have increasingly adopted various social media as political communication platforms. While the research on the topic has provided valuable knowledge about politicians’ use of these platforms and the immediate effects, the literature has mainly studied the usage in isolation from their broader communication with citizens. This article provides an overview of the emerging literature that examines politicians’ social media usage in a broader context. Through a scoping review of 49 studies published between 2008 and November 2022, the study identifies three main themes and seven subthemes in the literature and calls for more research to build more robust knowledge across different study contexts. In particular, the review emphasises a need for more longitudinal and qualitative perspectives to assess how politicians navigate between competing media logics in a hybrid media environment, how the new reality impacts them, and whether it alters their communication with citizens over time.

Electoral campaigning in a hybrid media environment

“…However, to get further insights into these new dynamics, it is important to examine politicians' cross-media campaign practices and not just campaign communication on single platforms (e.g., Bode & Vraga, 2018;Enli & Moe, 2013). A newer vein of studies has provided valuable insights into politicians' cross-media communication during elections from different perspectives, but they are mostly quantitative and report findings on the aggregate level (for an overview, see Severin-Nielsen, 2023). By comparison, there are fewer in-depth case studies of single politicians' election campaigns across media (for exceptions, e.g., Casero-Ripollés et al, 2016;Fisher et al, 2018;Mendes & Dikwal-Bot, 2022;Ridge-Newman, 2020).…”