PERSONALIZED CAMPAIGNS IN PARTY-CENTRED POLITICS

TLDR

Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter shift political focus from parties to individual politicians, expanding the arena for personalized campaigning—a trend that is less evident in party‑centred systems like Norway where party strategies may conflict with personalized, dialogical use. The study investigates the purposes Norwegian politicians employ social media for political communication during election campaigns. The authors analyze interview transcripts and status‑update data from two Norwegian election campaigns to explore these purposes. The study finds that Norwegian politicians use social media for both marketing and dialogue, with Facebook favored for marketing and Twitter for continuous dialogue, and that marketing motives are reflected in actual use, while the practice is personalized and involves private exposure and individual initiatives, prompting further research.

Abstract

Social media like Facebook and Twitter place the focus on the individual politician rather than the political party, thereby expanding the political arena for increased for personalized campaigning. The need to use social media to communicate a personal image as a politician and to post personalized messages online seems less obvious in a party-centred system such as the Norwegian. Within this framework, the personalized and dialogical aspects of social media may be contradicted by the political parties' structural communication strategies. The article uses data from interviews and status updates from two Norwegian election campaigns and asks for what purposes Norwegian politicians use social media as a tool for political communication. The findings show that politicians' report both marketing and dialogue with voters as motives for their social media use and their practices varied, too. Politicians' reported motive to use social media for marketing purposes was reflected in their actual use. The preferred social media platform for marketing purposes was Facebook. Twitter was more used for continuous dialogue compared to Facebook. Social media marketing was personalized and involved private exposure and individual initiatives. The article concludes by indicating hypotheses and need for further research.