FLITE 3rd YR PROJECT

of 40
Institute of Technology Tallaght, Dublin
Department of Computing
Bachelor of Science in I.T. Management
Subject: 3rd
Year ResearchProject
Research topic: Impactof socialmedia on politics
Supervisor: Mary Hendricks
Student Name: Zuluka Toure
Student Number: X00106948

of 40
Table of Contents
1 - Table of contents ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2
2 - Listof Tables --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3
3 - Listof Figures -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4
4 - Introduction ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5
4.0 - Introduction ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5
4.1 - What isSocial Media------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5-6
4.2 - Functionsof social media ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6
4.3 - General importance of areaof study ---------------------------------------------------------- 6-7
4.4 - Currentstatusand gap understanding -------------------------------------------------------- 7
4.5 - Specificstatementof Objectives --------------------------------------------------------------- 7-8
4.6 - Sequence of taskneededtoachieve result -------------------------------------------------- 8
4.7 - Conclusion ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9
5 – Literature review ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10
5.0 - Introduction ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10
5.1 - Why dopoliticiansuse social media ---------------------------------------------------------- 10-13
5.2 - What social mediashouldapoliticianuse --------------------------------------------------- 13-15
5.3 - Social medialegal issues ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15-16
5.4 - Political controversyonSocial media --------------------------------------------------------- 16-17
5.5 - Cost of runningsocial media -------------------------------------------------------------------- 17
5.6 - Keyfindingsof the review----------------------------------------------------------------------- 18
5.7 - Conclusion ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19
6 - Case study ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 20
6.0 - Introduction ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20
6.1 - Researchapproach --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20-21
6.2 - Surveyquestionnaire1--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21-26
6.3 - Surveyquestionnaire2--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 26-29
6.4 - Testingsocial mediaplatform ------------------------------------------------------------------- 29-30
6.5 - Some of the keyfinding --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 30-31
6.6 - Conclusion-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 32
7 - Conclusion ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 33
7.0 - Introduction ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 33-34
7.1 - Conclusion ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 35
8 - Bibliography&Recommendation ------------------------------------------------------------------- 36-38
9 - Appendices ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 39-40

of 40
List of Tables
Table 1: Data collectiononsocial media
Table 2: TDs usage of social network
Table 3: Social mediaaccount
Table 4: Typesof social media
Table 5: Purpose of social mediausage
Table 6: Social mediaplatforms
Table 7: Age group

of 40
List of Figures
Figure 1: Social mediafollowers
Figure 2: Accessingsocial media
Figure 3: Last electionvote
Figure 4: Politiciansactivenesson social media
Figure 5: Political followers
Figure 6: Politicianprofile
Figure 7: Social mediaupdates
Figure 8: ContentsonSocial media
Figure 9: Time spentonSocial media
Figure 10: Social mediaguidelines
Figure 11: Political successonSocial media
Figure 12: Social mediafailure

of 40
Chapter One
Introduction
4.0 Introduction
The development of social media in modern era has changed the way that hundreds of millionsof
people share dataabout themselvesaroundthe globe.Peoplefromall walksof life andfromall over
the worldhave encompassedsocial media. Accordingtoresearch“the firstrecognizablesocial media
site,Six Degrees,wascreatedin1997.Itenableduserstouploadaprofileandmake friendswithother
users. In 1999, the first blogging sites became popular, creating a social media sensation that’s still
popular today” (Hendricks,2013). Today organizations and institutions of all shapes and dimensions
are achieving dramatic benefits by using these tools to reach out to the public. The concept of
individualsgeneratingtheirowncontentonthe internethasbecomeubiquitous.Thishascreatednew
opportunities for politicians to observe, interact and gather information. Many techniques have
alreadybeenestablishedtoinfluence socialmediasuchaspublicpanels,crowd-sourcing,co-creation,
blogminingand webscraping.Howeveritis likelythatmanymore will evolve overthe comingyears
as the internetcontinuestochange. Accordingto Hubert“the use of social mediaintoday’spolitical
campaignisnot onlyimportant –it iscritical”(Jerpi,2012). The goal of thisprojectisto place the role
that social mediaplaysincollective actionwithinamore general political orgovernmental structure.
One cannot understand the role of social media in collective action without first taking into
considerationthe political atmosphere inwhichtheyfunction.The projectwill elaborateonhow does
the evolutionof social mediaprovidenew waystostimulatecitizenengagementinpolitical life?How
manypoliticians have implemented,if notbecomeproficientat,the basisof asocial mediaapproach,
using popular tools to share facts with the public and listen to what citizens are saying.
4.1 What is Social Media?
The bestapproachtooutlinesocial mediaistobreakitintopieces.Massmediaisassociateinstrument
on communicationwhichisasortof a radioor a newspaper,therefore socialmediawouldbe asocial
tool of communication defined as “a term used to describe a variety of Web-based platforms,
applicationsandtechnologiesthatenable peopletosociallyinteractwithone anotheronline”(Beal,
n.d.), these kindof interactionsmaybe aseasyas solicitingforyourcommentsorrental you vote on
a commentary,oritmaybe as advancedasflixsterendorsingmoviestoyousupportedthe evaluations

of 40
of people withparallelinterest.Whenone thinkof regularmediaasaone way trafficwhereveryou'll
be able to read a newspaper or hear a report on TV, however you have got terribly restricted ability
to relinquishyourthoughtsonthe issues.Social mediaonthe opposite handisa two waytrafficthat
provides you the flexibility to speak too. Examples of social media sites are Facebook, Twitter,
YouTube, LinkedIn and many more.
4.2 Functions of social media
Social mediaismeasureof thecompleteformof activityhavingof Internetcommunicationsandonline
interaction. When processes are centred on fast changing content, connecting and distributing, a
workingonline headquarters becomesnecessary,whichneedsthe creationandlookingafterof good
and fascinatingwebsites.Visitorstodifferentwebsitesshouldbe able tovigorouslyfollow whatfirst-
hand content has been circulated on the website without actually using the site. Sharing operations
like Addand Share or RSS feedsofferthese possibilities.Sharingoptionsoftenappearasbuttons on
websites,makingitactual easyforuserstofrontwardthesite’scontent.Numerouswebsitesalsocarry
a Facebook Like button which,whenclicked and recommends site to the clickersown networks. On
the other hand, RSS feeds and keep users up-to-date of site changes and not share this information
with others. (See Appendix A)
4.3 General importance of area of study
The rise in the numberof internetusersleadstoan increase to digital influence onpeople’sopinion
towardsthe political entities,therefore socialmediasiteshavebecomeanimportantadditionalarena
for politics.Theyare a resource forpolitical bulletinandinformation,findingthe same mindedissue-
orientedindividuals,andatool forvoteroutreachin the run-upto elections.The general importance
of the area of study is to address how the politicians uses social networks to increase transparency
and public involvement, what are the budget involve, the technologies and methodologies that
impactedthe social networkonpolitics.“Social Mediahasrapidly growninimportance asaforumfor
political activisminitsdifferentforms.Social mediaplatforms,suchas Twitter,FacebookandYouTube
provide new ways to stimulate citizen engagement in political life, where elections and electoral
campaignshave a central role”(Tenhunen& Karvelyte,2014). The studywill alsoaddress the use of
social mediaas a newinvestigative tool bydefiningthe scope,purpose andvalue of social mediafor
politiciansandtoprovide guidelinesforofficialsmanagingsocialmediachannelswithinpolitical scene,
such that: Politicians are able to take advantage of new opportunities for communication and

of 40
commitment that social media deliver and the significant of good governance, planning and
management of social media within the overall context of the politics is understood.
4.4 Current status and gap understanding
Social media has altered structures and methodsof contemporary party-political communication by
persuading the way politicians intermingle with citizens and each other. Current status indicate that
“The social media adoption rate continues to grow at a staggering pace as the big four networks –
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+” (Bennett, 2011). The supremacy of social media is such
that,the numberof global usersisprojectedtoreachsome 2.5billionby2018,arounda thirdof entire
worldpopulationwithanestimatedhalf abillionof these usersislikelytobe fromChinaand roughly
a quarterof amillionfromIndia.However,NorthAmericaisthe regionwiththemaximumpenetration
rate of social media, whereas 60 percent of the people has at most one social media profile.
However,the role of thisphenomenoningrowingpolitical commitmentandelectoralparticipationis
neither clear nor simple without adopting the plan or guide to achieve your goal. There’s also some
surprising generation gap data on the differences between adultsand teenagers and the gap in the
age breakdown. Understand the social media nature of each network and best practices in
communication.Whena politicianunderstandsthe social nature of each network,theycan beginto
strategicallyplancontentand get the most value from the general public,“but it’simportantto find
someone that has the strategic business sense, creativity and right skills to manage social efforts”.
(Greve, 2013)
4.5 Specific statement of objectives
The main objectives of the project is to develop an explanatory theory that impact the younger
generation, why politicians use social media, what guidelines exist, cost involved, compare and
contrast the impactof social networksamongpolitical partiesorpoliticiansaswell asfocussingsocial
media guidelines help politician to achieve their aim and the facts associated with the rise of social
networkinpolitics..One of the objectivesistomeasure yoursocialmediaresults,themetricsyouwill
want to track will be based on the political objectives you defined. Knowing your supporters by
engaging with them through the media and understanding their point of view as well as knowing
where your audience engage in social media.

of 40
These guidelines providesa framework to carry out your social media strategy and implement your
social media tactics. In other to be successful on social media politicians have the responsibility to
adhere to general guidelinesof social media.These guidelinesare intendedtohelppoliticiansfroma
wide range of perspectives, e.g. protecting political status and reduce misperception about dubious
legal and controversial issues andthe implicationsof participationonsocial media.Here are a listof
general guideline:
 Be accountable for what you write.
 Maintain privacy and confidentiality.
 Be trustworthy.
 Consider your listeners.
 Exercise smart judgement.
 Be accurate and transparent.
 No Ghost Town
4.6 Sequence of task needed to achieve the result
The planned sequence of the project is to collect data by using one of the online survey software to
gather the insight required to make more notify judgement. On the other hand interview can be
conducted if permitted with local politicians either by phone or personally to also gather some
information.Findingsthe viewsof general publicwithregardstotheiractivitiesinsocial mediawhen
it comes to politics as well as age gap.
Testing one of the most used social network by putting together a political survey questionnaires
online inothertofindoutthe bestresultintermsof political scenario.The datawill thenbe analysing
statisticallybyusingtoolssuchasgraphsandtablestoachieve the resultortomeasure the successof
the project.

of 40
4.7 Conclusion
The impact of social media on politics is challenging, for a growing number of politicians,uses social
media provide a way of keeping in touch with eligible voters and communities. This chapter has
elaboratedthe evolutionsof social mediaandhow it changedindividualsinthe worldof politics.The
chapteralsotalkedaboutthe general importance of theareaof studyistoaddresshow the politicians
use social networks to increase transparency and public participation,the chapter also talked about
addressingsocial mediaasa newinvestigativetool bydefiningthe scope,purpose andvalue of social
media for politicians and to provide guidelines. Detailed objectives of the project is to research and
identify the facts associated with the rise of social networks in politics, the impact on younger
generation,compareandcontrastthe impactof socialnetworksamongpoliticalpartiesaswell ashow
social mediaguidelineshelppoliticiantoachievetheiraim.The sequence of taskandanalysisneeded
of achievingthe projectresulthasbeendetailedinthischapter.The nextchapterof the projectisto
presentthe literature review whichwill give anaccountof whathas beenpublishedonthe impactof
social mediaon politicsby accreditedscholarsand researchersthat is of general and relevanttothe
research topic.

of 40
Chapter two
Literature Review
5.0 Introduction
This chapter will judgementally assesses the obtainable literature in and round the research topic
alongside diverse studies that are applied antecedent and are relevant to the current analysis. The
literature in politics helps in giving accounts to the distinctions and variations in social media usage
amongst various ways of politics, however, the Communal hypothesiswithin the literature is that
politicians want to win and later run for another term in office through the use of social media
technology just like political movements who are eager to mobilise as many people as they can
through the use of social network sites.
The studyaimedatconsideringtheimpactsocial mediahasgaininsidethepolitical scene.Socialmedia
has considerably changed the way political information is being accessible and available. Instead of
putting together elementary knowledge of politician from websites as well as news media, social
media users gather information using collaborating sites where there is ongoing communication
amongvotersand politiciansandwhere informationflowsstraightfromthe mouthpoliticiantotheir
voters on social network sites like Facebook and Twitter pages. However every individual politicians
uses social media in the way that will suit their movement.
5.1 Why do politicians use social media?
In recent years, social media are thought to have influence the behaviour on the general public
discourse andcommunicationwithinthe society,particularlysocialmediaare progressivelyutilizedin
political context,significantlyserviceslike LinkedIn,Twitter,Youtube and Facebooksquare measure
believedtoownthe potential forincreasingpoliticalparticipation.Politiciansall roundthe worldfrom
all levels of position engaged in the use of social medial tool in any method they can to attach with
the general public,forexamplethe electionof the UnitedStatesof AmericapresidentBarackObama
in 2008 was with success driven by the presence of Social Media sites.In Canada, “Calgary mayoral
candidate NaheedNenshi who,withlessthan5% supportcatapultedto40% of the popularvote in a
matter of days, due to largely to savvy social media usage”. (Spronsen, 2012)
Here are some of the major reasons why politicians engaged in the use of social media.

of 40
Connect with supporters - One of the major aim of politicians using social media. Generally, leading
people means linking with them, social media sites become a perfect tool for politician to connect
openly with votersby exploring the varioussocial media available techniques without any charge in
revealing their core values and provide insight of how they will govern and lead. These also allows
candidate tododge the old-fashionedmethodof gettingvoteroverpaidpromotingorearnedmedia.
Accordingto the research“Fine Gael may holda majorityof Dail seats,but SinnFeinis the dominant
partyonsocial mediabyacountrymile” (Jordan,2014),the party(SinnFein)seesocialmediaplatform
asverysignificantwayof connectingtotheirfollowers.The chartbelowshows the difference between
the major parties in Ireland and who connect to supporters most.
Figure 1: Social media followers
Advertising - Politicians also utilises Social Network like to produce a commercial and publish it for
free insteadof payingtoradio,TelevisionandNewspaperfortime used.Thisallowthe commercialto
reach wide audience withoutincurringanycost whatso ever.“Barack Obama has passeda landmark
inpolitical campaigningbyclockingupmore than200mviewsof hisonlinevideoonYouTube” (Michel
& Pilkington,2012).Aspolitical campaignsare movingprogressivelyonline,videoshasbecomeacore
part of theirphilosophyinall stagesof politicsfromtop-down,the measure of viewinghighlightsthe
growing significance of videos in political communication.
Data Collection - Social mediaproducesa remarkable amountof data and informationeveryday.By
usingsocial mediasnoopingtoolsefficiently,acampaigncan assemble awealthof relevantdata and
information concerning those who are following them on social network, number of share content,
numberof tweetandaverage tweetperday as well asnumberof likes.Gatheringavast sum of data
22705
28827
2178283362
18641
Social Media Followers
Fine Gael Labour Party Fianna Fail Sinn Fein Others

of 40
basedonthe connectionsonsocialmediabyapoliticiancanreallypaintaperfectpicture of whattype
of followera politiciansorpolitical partyhas, more significantly,whatthese followerare lookingfor.
Once thatdata hasbeengatheredandwellanalysed,the politicianscanusedthe dataadvantageously
to improve their social media political strategies in other to gain an edge on their competitors.
Accordingtothe chart above,SinnFeinhasemergedasthe leadingpartyonsocial mediaeventhough
theydonot holdthe majorityseatinthe Dail.“The developmentof social mediainthe lastnumberof
years has provided us with the ideal platform to get our comments and policies in an unfiltered
manner” according to Sinn Fein (Jordan, 2014). The tables below indicate the data activities of the
four major Irish parties collected October 2003-November 2014.
Table 1
Party Likes Talked
about page
New page
likes
Post Avg share per
post
Avg Comment
per post
Fianna Fail 6582 36 24 0 3 7
Fine Gael 8905 207 23 1 22 122
Labour 10,427 78 24 3 1 6
Sinn Fein 54,662 7800 714 10 272 177
Data collected on Facebook activities of the 4 major Irish parties
Feedback - Requesting feedback for comment from followers on social media can be a good factor.
Most common way to collect feedback is through comment from followers to share tips or through
survey. Several campaignsemploystaff toobserve theirsocial mediaaccountsforbothnegative and
positive response andscrub somethinguncomplimentary.Howeversucha bunker-like mentalitywill
builda campaignseemdefensive andclosedremovedfromthe general public. Runningpresent-day
campaigns can have interaction to the general public in spite of whether or not their feedback is
positive or negative. Social media tools also allows the general public to easily come together to
petition the government and their nominatedrepresentatives by using their facts against the effect
of authoritative lobbyists.
For instance Fine Gael TD SimonHarris postrequestingfora feedbackonFacebookafterthe budget
“Hello from Fine Gael HQ. I want to hear your questions on yesterday’s budget” (thejournal, 2014),
this attracted over 2 thousand like and 58 shares.
Fundraising- isalsoone of thereasonwhypoliticianengageinthe useof social media,mostespecially
in the US where all political parties rely on small amount of donations to finance their political

of 40
objectives by using social network to raise fund toward their political ambition. Barack Obama
changed the aspect of politics during 2008 election campaign by going into social media to organise
followers to increase fund. “By mobilizing a multi-channel campaign that emphasized social media,
[Obama] was able to amass a slew of small donations that overshadowed his competitors and
candidates from the 2004 election in pre-nomination contributions.” (O'Neill, 2012)
5.2 What social media should a politician use?
There are so many social network sites both free and payable with sophiscatedtools also known as
the Web 2.0 tools that developedrapidly with the modern technology. Social network site differs
dependingonthe motive of the user,as in the case of politicians,the mostfamoussocial mediasite
use by politician are, i.e. YouTube, LinkedIn, Flicker, Facebook and Twitter. Social media’s influence
within the broad campaigns and in fact politics in general in the US is indisputable. All of the
contestantsforSenate are vigorouslypresentinone social networkoranotherinthe senate election
2014, carrying out a series of political advertising and promotion actions through these networks
aiming to get nearer to their likely voters. Statistics indicated that “Beyond a doubt, their most
commonly used social network is Twitter. The Little Blue Bird network has been their favourite
showroom window throughout this campaign” (Martinez, 2014). (See Appendix B)
However,accordingtothe researchbyKevinLynchandJohnHogan,“The surveydiscoveredthatwhile
90% of politician felt networking was altering their communications with constituents, 60% believe
face to face communication was critical". (Lynch & Hogan, 2012)The table below revealed the most
popular social media used by TDs with the plan to rise their usage in the future.
Table 2
Social Networking site % Usage 2010 % Future Usage
Facebook 86 96
Twitter 42 65
Blog 35 50
YouTube 11 50
TDs Usage of Social networking site in Ireland in 2010
Facebook - Facebook hasemergedasone of the leadingsocialmediasitesusedbybothpoliticianand
the general public,the siteallowsyoutocreate yourpolitical networkthatisfar-reachingandpermits

of 40
youto postvideo,photos,sendelaboratedbulkmessagesandmanymore.The site alsoallow youto
collectfeedbackfromdifferentuserswithinthe style of the “Like”button,andgivethe choice tobuild
their own comments. They also have the option of conjointly forwarding the posting to their own
Facebookcontactsusers through the “Share” choice simplybecause Facebooksupportsiscommunal
pagesforcommoninterests.StudyalsoindicateFacebookcontinuetodominate asthe mostcommon
used social media site among the teenagers. (See Appendix C)
Twitter - Twitter is also a free online based social network that excels briefly short message bursts,
event updates, journal post pushes and breaking news. It permits a campaign to instantly send a
summary message to a lot of followers and conjointlylets the campaign move with others in a very
one-on-onemanner.MessagessendonTwitterare generallyknownastweet,ahashtaginsomecases
can be added inother to linkmessagesto messageswhichmakesitmuch simplertokeepan eye on
messages.
However, studies has shownthat Twitter was usedto inspire voting performance as well as political
comments. One of the retweetedmessage and likes in Irishpolitics was by Simon Coveney when he
tweeted about the Taoiseach with regards to an interview. “God, what an uninspiring interview by
Taoiseachthismorning.He soundedhalfwaybetweendrunkandhungoverandtotallydisinterested”
(Siggins, 2010).
YouTube - YouTube is a free online video tool with more than 2 billion visitors every single day, its
reach can’t be takingtoo lightly.The networkallow usersuploadvideostothe site,these videosare
being watched, liked, comment and share at the same time. This however become an advertising
platformformanypoliticianstosendoutcampaignvideo.Accordingtothe researchthe 2007 Finnish
parliamentaryelection. Forinstance “InFinland,YouTube videoswere expectedtoplaya major part
inpartycampaignsforthe 2007 parliamentaryelection.CarlsonandStrandberg,whohave researched
the use of social mediainFinland,foundthatthe effectYouTubehadonthe electionresultsandvoting
behaviour was marginal.The most-watched electioncampaign videos were the so-called “negative”
clips, where some of the gaffes made by the candidates were highlighted” (Sudarshan, n.d.).
Flickr – Flickr is another free network mainly used to put out campaign photos, with more than 4
million images and over 30 million visitors, the platform has become a significant place to be for a
politician to expose their campaign. Each of these above mentionednetworks is totally exceptional
and allows you to link with a massive audience due to the volume of people utilising these social

of 40
networks.Howeverfrequentupdatesandmake sure theyare connectedtothe campaignwebsite,by
allowing voters to easily get access and engaged you in different networks.
Candidate witha solidcommercial experience,LinkedInisa place to be to showcase your talentand
identityinonesimpletoscanplatform. Withovermillionsof users,thisplatformhasgrowntobecome
one of the popularplatformwherepoliticiansidentifythemselves.Forinstance the UKPrime Minister
linkedInprofile listedhisachievementuptodate bothbeforeandafterengaginginpolitics,According
to the study, the aim is "to connect in the online places where business connects" - with virtual
friendshipsbeingmade "toreflectthe people andbusinessesthe prime ministercomesintocontact
withinthe course of his duties" (King,2011). Myspace could be a feasible andactive networkwhen
targeting urban gathering.
5.3 Social media legal issues
Politicians engaged in the use of social media must bear in mind the legal issues concerning the
conductof usingsocial media,the lawsapplyinthe same waytoofflineconduct.The contentyoupost
on a social networking website being reviewed and scrutinized before it’s unleash within the same
manner as alternative content that's revealed by your organization on an additional formal basis.”
Social networkingcanbe agreatmarketingtool butcanalsobe alegal landmineforthe unwary.Using
social networking to establish and maintain personal and business relationships can be very
productive but must always take into consideration the myriad of ever-lurking legal ramifications”.
(Ossian, et al., n.d.)
Defamation of character is harming someone’s reputation by distributing untrue story about the
individualororganisation.Everyindependentorpolitical partywill be liableforthe contentpostedon
his social media page which causes emotional distress to other party.
Accordingto the article publishedinthe guardianinUKlegal expertswarninternetuserstobe aware
of wronglytaggingpoliticiansaspaedophileswithregardstothe gossipsonsocial mediaof suspected
abusers in Westminster. ”Late Conservative peer Lord McAlpine settled legal action against Twitter
user (Sally Bercow) for untrue suggestion he was a paedophile” (Mason, 2014).
Discrimination and Harassment - Politician must also be aware that discriminating against someone
on social media being it racial, religious or ethnicity. Political parties could be liable for making any
discriminatory comment or harassing any individual, organisation or a group of people.For Instance
when the republican candidate Donald Trump call on “total and complete shutdown of country’s

of 40
borderstoMuslimsinthe wake ofSanBernardinoterroristattack” (Varghese,2015).BothRepublicans
and Democrats as well as the general public were very quick to criticise his discriminative or hate
remark on Twitter and other social media platforms.
Disclosing Delicate or Proprietary Evidence on social media platforms provide an immediate means
of interacting with your whole online followers, therefore using these tools in rush can lead to
unplanned and possibly even dreadful outcomes. A perfect example is the unquestionably well
proposed tweet in early February from Congressman Peter Hoekstra that he had just landed in Iraq
for what was thought to be a top-secret trip.
Setting up a private policy on social media account that indicate what kind of data is to be collected
and how it should be used, simply because social networks are progressively becoming a basis for
investigation of criminal activities which lead to criminal action. The survey carried by the Irish
examiner on Irish TDs reveal that “Some 82% said they had receivedabusive comments on social
media,while 48%saidtheyhad beencyberbullied — subjectedtoa prolongedcampaignof abuse by
anindividualorgroup”(O'Brien,2014). Forinstance whenLabourSenatorMsHigginswhohaswanted
toannounce anewinternetsafetybillmeantatrestrictionabuse andthreatsonlinereportedtoGarda
about an individual who is threatening to kill her “Ms Higgins said she received an email last week
fromthe same personshe hadrecentlyreportedtoAnGarda Síochána forthreateningherlife.Inthe
email,he toldMs Higginshe wouldburnher house downandshoother” (Bardon,2015). This leadto
criminal investigation and the arrest of the individual by the Garda.
It is significant for politicians to be mindful of copyright law when publishing any content on social
media site that include other media contents, photos, graphics and text must consider having an
applicable copyright law by securing the right to post third party.
5.4 Political controversy on social media
Politicians on social media sites sometimes land themselves into hot water due to direct access to
voters. Handlersandpublic-relationsexpertsusuallymanage acandidate’simage,fordecentreason:
permittinganofficial tochannelizeunfilteredtweetsorFacebookpostshaslandedmanycandidatein
embarrassing position. According to the research UK Labour party committee agreed to start
developing social media guidelinesafter concern were raised“the issue of the veryharmful leaksto
the media and the very damaging way in which social media is being used” (Mason, 2014) on both

of 40
Twitter and Facebook within the party which led to the continues abuse of number of Labour MPs
online including Liz Kendell.
Politiciansjustlikeanyotherorganisationhave the righttoexpressthemselvesonline,howeverthey
alsohave to be aware of consequencesinvolveshouldtheyactunreasonableonsocial mediafornot
adheringtothe general guidelines.Forexample the controversythatsurroundedLabourTDinIreland
for sending message on Facebook to a 17 year old girl leads to his resignation, The TD admitted by
saying“I sentinappropriate messagesviaFacebook.Thisincludedinadvertentlysendingone to a 17-
year-old woman. To the best of my knowledge, I have never met this woman and the message was
sentwhile underthe influenceof alcohol,"(SundayIndependent,2014). The case of US Congressman
“RepAnthonyWeiner(D-NY) ranintoabitof trouble whenhisaccountwasallegedlyhackedandthen
usedtosendalewdpicturetoone of hisfemale followers”, (Witt,2011) acollege studentfromSeattle
leads to his resignation even though he claim to knew nothing about it.
5.5 Cost of running social media sites
Spending on social media platform is one of the financial challenges political parties face. Politicians
generallyengagedinsocial networkplatformslike,Facebook,Twitter,FlickrandYouTube,these are
cost free networkswhere statisticallymostof the worldpopulationbothyoungand oldare engaged
into. However there are cost of hiring a team of social media experts, hiring a personal assistant or
evenoutsource toanITfirm. ForInstance whenFineGael decidedtolaunchadigitalmediacampaign
platformbyFine Gael forlocal andEuropeanelection,the partyhiredandpaidmediaexpertstowards
buildingthe platformwhichwill feature social networkslike Facebook,Twitter,FlickrandYouTube in
other to provide the public with the party’s information
In UK for instance “Documents obtained by the BBC show that conservatives are spending over
£100,000 each month on Facebook and as much as £3,000 in individual constituency campaigns”
(Hawkins, 2015), in an effort to draw attention and votes, seemingly persuaded that such online
commitment might make a little bit of transformation come the General Election. The 2012 US
election sees Obama and Romney spent 47 and 4.7 million dollars respectively on social media
campaign in other to boost their chances of getting elected.

of 40
5.6 Key findings of the review
For a politiciantoachievehis/heraimonsocial mediathere are guidelineswhichneedtobe followed
as indicated in chapter one
 One of the keyfindingsisthat politicianingeneral engage insocial mediaforvariousreason
such as connecting with their supporters and requesting for a feedback. For instance when
Fine Gael TD requestedforaFeedbackonFacebookafterthe budget,itattracted2 thousand
of likes and many share as well as comments.
 The researchalsofindoutthat the most famoussocial mediasitesusedbythe politiciansare
the bigfour, likesof Facebook,Flickr,YouTube and Twitter.Source reveal that Twitteris the
most popularnetworkin 2014 senate electioninthe US with 100% follow by Facebookwith
98%. HoweverinIrelandthe popularSNSusedbythe TDsaccordingtoresearchare Facebook
andTwitterwith86% and42% respectively.MostfrequentSNSamongteensaccordingtothe
research are Facebook an Instagram with 41% and 20% respectively. Study also reveal that
political candidateswithsolidcommercial experience show case theirachievementpastand
present on LinkedIn.
 The reviewlookedatlegal issuewithregardstosocial mediasuchasdefamationof character
and discrimination and harassment. For instance the article published by Bardon 2015
indicatingMsHigginsthe Laboursenatorreceivedanemailfromanindividualthreateningher
life lead to criminal investigation and the arrest of that individual by the Garda.
 Politiciannotfollowingthe guidelinesleadsthemtocontroversywhichinmostcasesleadsto
resignation,forinstance sendinginappropriatemessagesorimages.The Sundayindependent
article 2014 where LabourTDadmittedforsendinginappropriate messagesthroughFacebook
to a 17 yearoldwhichleadsto his resignationandthe case of NY congressmanwhoposteda
lewd pictures to his follower.
 Finally, even though most of these platform are free, politician pay for the cost of hiring an
individual expert such as personal assistant or even outsourcing to social media
communicationexpert.The documentobtainedbyBBCreveal conservative partyspend£100
on Facebook each month.

of 40
5.7 Conclusion
As a measure of political communication basis, social media is a recent phenomenon in politicsand
political campaign. However for a politician or political party to achieve their goal, there are certain
rules they have to adhere to. The literature review of this study elaborated on various reasons why
politicians shouldengagedin the use of social media,politicians connect with followers or potential
votersby encouragingthemto participate andsupport theircourse,withlarge numberof the world
population using social network sites, this has become necessary for politicians to look into.
From variousinstances there are evidence thatFacebook,TwitterandYouTube are the mostusedSN
tools for political campaign, whereasLinkedIn is usually used by candidates with solid commercial
experience todisplaytheirachievementinone simple platform.The researchalso talkedabouthow
politician need to be aware of legal issues concerning their conduct in using social media as the law
applies the same way as to offline conduct.
The review also talked about political controversy on social media. Politicians just like anyone else
have the right to express their opinion on social media, but theyhave to be aware of consequences
shouldtheyactinappropriatesuchassendingandreceivinginappropriateimagesormessages.Finally
the research reveal the cost involved in running SNS by political parties as in the case of Fine Gael
party hiring and paid for the launching a digital media campaign that featured the big four SNS. The
next chapter will focus on the various surveys conducted in and around the project topic as well as
analysing the finding in support of these arguments.

of 40
Chapter three
Case Study
6.0 Introduction
Elections are clearly significant to political candidates who are contesting with the aim of getting
successbyreceivingalarge numberof the votes.Social mediaplatformsturnouttobe partandparcel
of party-politicalmovementaswellasamediumfor the generalpublictofindoutabouttheirpolitical
candidates. The study looked at the impact social media had on politics used as stage to influence
followers or likely voters. The methodology of the survey is to gather facts, Principal source of
information will be gathered from the responses through the form of the survey which can assure
exactness of the end result. However, these facts allow me to handle some explicit problems to
politicians regarding their commitment with social network platform and the way these platforms
impact their final political higher cognitive progressspecifically. The studyis limited to the scope of
local politicians from numerous political parties, and the viewsof the general public with regardsto
social media in terms of politics.
6.1 Research approach
The analysisutilizedthe surveyapproachasthe strategyandthe methodtoproduce response tothe
mostanalysisquestion.Surveyresearchapproachmaybeamethodofgatheringinformationbyasking
questions. The study was conducted on-line by means of survey monkey in order to verify the
assumption of the investigation whilst preserving legitimacy as well as to arrange the form on-line
whichpermitme tocollectquantitativedatawhenthe linkof the surveywassenttothelocal politician
via emailswhichwere researchedon-line.The researchtactic isreasonable innature as itsobjective
is to examine the notion that have acknowledged and established in the literature review through
study.
Three surveys were conducted, the first survey was organised and send to 66 local politicians from
numerous political parties within the county. The second was the interview of the members of the
general public and the third was on social media platform. The survey preserves the honour and
admirationforthe respondentsthatparticipatedinthe analysis,the respondentsduringthisanalysis
weren't exploited in any manner what so ever. The information collected as well as analysis were

of 40
strictly used for tutorial purposes solely and can in no way be utilizedin any other purposes. The
participants were made to be aware at the beginning of the survey that the analysis is completely
voluntary, they do not needto be a part of the analysis if they don’t want to. The expected time for
concludingthe surveywasalso specifiedtobe around 5-10 minuteswhilstthe surveywill contain10
questionnaires in total that should be completed and submit on-line.
6.2 Survey questionnaire1
This part of the survey indicate the findings collected from the interview of 18 members of general
publicbothmale andfemale betweenthe age of 20to 35. The participantswere made tobe aware of
the fact that the researchandanalysiswasforacademicpurposesandcouldnotbe usedforanything
other than that. The research is also voluntarily, meaning is the choice of the participant either to
participate or not to and no details of the research is shared with any political organisation or
individual politicians. They were also made to be aware of the topic of the research.
Q1: Each participant was ask if they have social media account?
The result show that all participant responded “yes” of having social media account. This indicated
howsocial mediahasbecome the mostpopularwebbase tool for the general publictocommunicate
and share information with each other.
Table 3
Social media account % of Respondents No of respondents
Yes 100% 18
No 0% 0
Social mediaaccount
Q2 - What type of social media account do you use?
The table below show that 90% of the respondents use Facebook, 75% have Twitter account, 24%
with YouTube, 30% with Instagram and 10% for others. Facebook being the most popular in social
media platforms as compare to others.

of 40
Table 4
Social media type Percentage of respondents (18 respondents)
Facebook 90% 16
Twitter 75% 14
YouTube 24% 4
Instagram 30% 5
Others 10% 2
Types of Social media accounts
Q3: Which of the social networks sites do you access on daily basis?
The resultof Figure1showthat 75% of the respondentsaccessFacebookcompareto17% whoaccess
Twitterand 8% who accessother social medianetwork, thisshow how popularFacebookiscompare
to other social media networks. Facebook is much preferred by many for the simple fact that the
networkgivesusersthe abilitytoworktogetherandshare material inmore improvementwayandis
user friendly than the 140 characters compare to Twitter, one could post a large quantity of
information. Facebook network also has much more better API such as developers and application
which mean better know-how for all.
Figure 2: Accessing of social media (Q3)
Q4: Did you vote in the last election?
Accordingto the survey86% of those interviewedindicatedthattheyhave votedinthe lastelection,
whilstthe other14% didnotvote inthe lastelection.Mostpeoplewhovotedinanelectionare more
75%
17%
8%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Facebook Twitter Others

of 40
expected to vote in the upcoming elections as presumed, on the other hand a voter may decide to
withdraw from voting. Huge turnout indicates the interest the public had on politics.
Figure 3: Last election vote (Q4)
Q5: Do you think it is important for a local politician to be active social media platforms?
53% of those surveyed think it is very important, 30% thinks it is important, 12% indicated that it is
somehowimportantwhereas5%concludedthat it is not importantat all.The resultof the question
indicatedthatmajorityof the general publicfeelsitsignificantfora politiciantohave a social media
platforms.Bybeingactive onsocial mediaplatformitallow politiciantoreachout to theirnational in
a more objective style. However the role of social media phenomenon in growing political
commitment and political contribution is neither simple nor clear.
Figure 4: Politicians activeness on social media (Q5)
Q6: Do you follow any politician on social media?
Politiciansengaged in social media in other to put their informationacross, the table below indicate
that 71% of the respondentssaytheyfollow politicianonsocial mediaplatform.Thisis an indication
86%
14%
Yes No
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Very important Important Somehow important Not important
Activeness of a politician on social media

of 40
of a rise of individualvotersturningouttocast theirballetdue large numberof individualsaccessing
political contentfromsocialmediasites. Male respondentsseemtobe dominantinaccessingpolitical
content on social media.
Figure 5: Followers of politicians (Q6)
Q7: Was the politician social media profile helpful to learn about him/her?
It’sclearfromthe graphbelowthatalmost54% of the respondentsbelieve socialnetworkassistthem
in learning more about the candidate, at the same time 33% somehow believedthat social media
assistina wayof gettingsufficientinformationaboutthe politician.The remaining13% thinkthatthe
politician profile on social media does not help in anyway with regards to gaining some knowledge
about the individual politician.
Figure 6: Politician profile (Q7)
71%
39%
Yes No
54%
33%
13%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Yes Somehow No

of 40
Q8: Do you rely on social media for political updates?
The resultof the analysisindicate thatlarge numberof the respondentswhoutilisesocial mediavery
much depend on social it to achieve information about a politician or political candidate, It also
indicate that most of the respondents utilises Facebook a lot more as compare to the other kinds of
social media, 75% of the respondents uses Facebook each day. People that rely on social media for
political updatesare more expectedtohave contacts who share theirpolitical understanding andto
listen to political view of others who are in line with their personal opinions.
Figure 7: Social Media for updates (Q8)
Q9: Would contents you read on social media about a politician inspired you to vote for him/her?
The content posted by a politician on a social media is very significant in influencing his follower or
likelyvotersinfavourof othercandidates.The figure below show alarge numberof the respondents
will be inspiredtovoteforapoliticianbase onthe informationtheyread abouttheparticularpolitician
on social media, however, there seems to be an enormous prospective for political candidates to
discover on social media.
0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00%
Yes
No

of 40
Figure 8: Contents on Social Media (Q9)
6.3 Survey questionnaire2
Q1: Do you use social media for political purposes?
Analysis of the online survey gathered from 8 politicians out of 66 through survey monkey.
Social media has become an essential tool for every political candidate due to the amount of traffic
the network has, it is therefore significant tool nowadays for political candidate to get linked.
Accordingtothe survey75%of the politiciansutilisessocial mediastrategyfortheirpolitical purposes,
whilst 25% do not engage with social media.
Table 5
AnswerChoice Response
Yes 75%
No 25%
Social Media for political purposes (Q1)
Q2: Name the types of social media you use
The figure indicatethatmostof the politiciansusesFacebook,TwitterandLinkedIn.Surprisinglyevery
single one of the respondents has Facebook account in addition to either Twitter or LinkedIn. This
howeverindicateall of the politiciansutilisesFacebookinconjunctionwitheithertwitterorLinkedIn,
statistically 57.14% uses twitter in addition to Facebook and 28.57% uses LinkedIn in addition to
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Yes
No

of 40
Facebook.It’sclearthatthe pathwayof social mediaisledbyFacebook,ithasbecome anewsdriving
force among the other social media sites which is why most politician uses this platform.
Table 6
Answerchoices Response
Facebook 100%
Twitter 57%
LinkedIn 28%
Types of social media
Q3: On a daily basis how much time do you spend on your social media network
Most politiciandonotspendmuchtime on social mediaaccordingto the response,thisisincontrast
withresponse of the memberof the public,vastmajorityof themspend alittle more thananhouron
social mediaonadailybasisandafewpercentageof themspendmore thantwohoursadayonsocial
media site. However both the politicians and members of the public uses Facebook a lot more than
any other social network sites.
Figure 9: Time spent on Social Media (Q3)
Q4: What category of age group are your followers?
Most of the politicianswhorespondedindicatethat50% of theirfollowerare between30-45years
of age and another50% are over45 years of age.The findingrevealthatmajorityof theirfollowers
are over30 years,meaningthere islackof appeal forthe youngergenerationtogetinvolve.
Table 7
Age group Responses
18-30 years 0%
0.00%
20.00%
40.00%
60.00%
80.00%
Greater than an hour Less than 2 hours
Time spenton social media

of 40
30-45 years 50%
Over 45 years 50%
Categoryof age group
Q5: Do you think social media has changed the way politics is run in Ireland? If yes please explain!
The resultindicate 100%of the respondentsbelievedsocial mediaisslowlychangingthe waypolitics
isrun in Ireland, these site are significantforsharinginformationandcreatingvastmovement,which
has changedthe wayall politiciansandthe general publicconnectandintermingle withone another.
Faster access to information, feedback on issues and organising of various interest political groups.
Howeversome politiciansare also sceptical aboutthe takeoverof social mediabase on the fact that
no party has won election without the conjunction of social media and old-style door to door
communication. Therefore it is too early to make a final conclusion on to the significance of social
media to politicians.
Q6: What are the negative aspect of social media you’ve experienced as a politician?
For a politician to be successful in his/her campaign is all down to his appearance to have good
reputation,politiciansare alsoawarethatsocial mediacanripaparttheirreputationtopiecesandthe
destruction could last for years to come. However most of the respondents indicated that they
haven’texperiencedanynegative feedbackorabuse,on the other handfew of the respondenthave
sufferabuse fromanonymouscowardsandfar left.One couldtherefore imagine thatif a politicianis
part of the government making unpopular decision, then social media could pretty brutal for its
criticism.
Q7: Do you as a politicianfollowspecificguidelineswith regards to using social media for political
agenda? If yes please explain!
According to the survey result, some politician follow internal guidelines of their political party here
in Ireland, guidelines like protecting individual information provided by the general public. Any
information that can be used to detect a particular person which includes medical detail, name,
address and so on. On the other hand a large number of the respondent indicated that they do not
follow any guidelines.

of 40
Figure 10: Social mediaguidelines(Q6)
6.4 Testing of social media platforms
The surveyalsoposteda questiononFacebookasking! Doyouthinkpoliticianssucceededthrough
social mediainpersuadingthe publictogo to the polls? The testwasrespondedbyfriendsinmy
contacts,out of whicha total of 25 people of differentage grouptookpart inthe Facebookquestion
and the table belowindicatethe age group,numberof respondents andpercentageof respondent.
Figure 11: How successful is social media to politicians
44% of the respondentsbelievedpoliticianare verymuchsucceedinginpersuadingthe public
whereasanother44% saytheyare somehow and12% were unsure.Thisindicate thatpolitical
information’sonsocial networkcanencourage political engagement.
The surveyalsoposteda questiononTwitterasking,why do you thinksome politiciansfail onsocial
media?Outof those who responded,45% of the respondentbelievedlackof listening,30% believed
lack of consistency and 25% believed lack of activeness.Building up a listening tactics as a politician
can assist keep well-informed of what’s already being said by your followers on social media.
28.57%
71.43%
Yes No
44% 44%
12%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
Very much Somehow Not at all

of 40
Figure 12: Politician failure on social media
6.5 Some of the key finding includes:
 75% of the politicianswhorespondedengagedinSNSfortheirpolitical agenda, witheachand
everyone of themutilisingFacebookinadditionwitheitherTwitterorLinkedIn.Thiscoincide
with the result of the general public which reveal that 82% with Facebook account only, 8%
with Facebook and Twitter and 10% with Facebook and other SNS has maintained the
reasoning in the literature built on the fact that Facebook and Twitter are the most popular
network and LinkedIn as a platform for identifying achievements.
 All the respondents believe that social media has changed the way politics is run in Ireland
because it allowsyouto connect and share informationwithyourfollowers,getfeedbackas
well as data analysis. However, a little more than 70% of the politicians says they follow
internal code of conduct guidelinesof theirvarious political partiesinothertoavoidpolitical
controversy.Suchasprotectingindividual informationandpostinginappropriate information
or images.
 The evidence onthe Facebookindicatedthatmostrespondentdonotfollow anypoliticianor
political partybecause theyare a bitsceptical aboutthem, they are not to be trusted,boring
and only serve their own interest. The evidence on twitter indicated that politicians need to
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
Lack of consistency Lack of activeness Lack of listening
Why do you think somepoliticians fail on social media

of 40
adhere to guidelines by paying attention to what their followers are saying which most of
them do not do based on the twitter result.
 A little over70%of the membersof the publicsaystheyfollowpoliticianonsocial mediawhich
is an indicationof how SNS influencesfollowers,whilstina separate questions53% thinksis
veryimportantfora politiciantoactive onsocial mediabecause theydependonsocial media
to study more about the purpose of their candidate’ political agenda.
 Anotherinterestingfindingwasover60% of the memberof the publicsaysthe contentthey
readon social mediaaboutapoliticianinspiredthemtovote asinthe case of Calgarymayoral
candidate Naheed Nenshi who hurled to popular vote in a matter of days due to largely to
savvy social media.

of 40
6.6 Conclusion
Using the outcomesfromthe analysisitcan be decidedthatthe findingsdosupportthistheorythat
the presence of social mediainapoliticalcampaignwill positivelyaffectthe supportof thatcandidate
amongvoters,withover80%of the citizensonsocialmedia,thishasbecome significantforpoliticians
to engagedonthese platformsbymakingtheirpurposeclearaswell asfollowingthe guidelines,most
especiallyFacebookandTwitterastheyare the most usedplatformbybothpoliticiansandmembers
of the public.
Even though most politicians believe that SNS has changed the way politics is run, however, it is fair
to say that most Irish politiciansdo not spend much time on social media in other to really connect
with their supporters this could probably be down to the cost of running these platforms like
employingaprofessional,the surveypointoutthatover60% spendalittle more thananhourondaily
basis.In contrastwiththe memberof the publicwhorelyon the contenton social mediaforpolitical
updates that will inspire them to vote. A little over 75% of the politicians says they follow internal
guidelines of their individual party and most never experience any sort of negativity on SNS.
Finally, it is fair to say that SNS has played and will carry on to play a vital role in politics, takeninto
consideration the speed of the technologyand the sheer volume of people SNS can reach in a short
amount of time. However, politicians need to be aware that, there are laid guidelines to follow in
other to be successful on these platforms.

of 40
Chapter four
Conclusion
7.0 Introduction
Social networking sites are getting additional broadly used as a contemporary channel for posting,
findingandsharingdataandcontentinpolitics.Thisinnovative developmentsare embracedmoreby
the members of the general public, this however becomes critical for politicians and their political
parties campaign. Even though ancient media and public opinion still take a significant position in
politics. Social media updates still are in it promising period of enlargement,not solely the scope of
online social media is larger, additionally the political communicationreaches individualsin a totally
different approach, messages and data will return through numerous times a day by social media
users.The analysisof the researchwas centredon the impactof social mediaon politics.The survey
was analysed using Microsoft excel tool and most of the respondents engaged in the use of social
network sites which has magnified potential of growth in future from political point of view.
The review of the literature has highlighted various areas a politicians need to looked at before
engaging on the social network, areas like purpose of engagement and tool needed, legal rules,
controversy and cost involved. These platforms has become a marketing strategy not only for
politicians but for the whole world at large where politicians have been fast to embrace and sway
social media to engage and educate their potential voters. According to article “Social media are an
important supporting cast that can drive valuable traffic to the site and engage voters on a more
personal level”(NewMediaCampaign,n.d.).Althoughfora politicianstoachieve these results,they
will have toengagethemselvesinthemostpopularsocialmediatoolsknownasthebig fouraspointed
out in the reviewaswell astaking intoaccount the charge involve inrunningpolitical promotionson
these media platforms.
We’ve alsolearntfromthe case studythatpoliticianswhorespondedusessome of the bigfoursocial
media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to communicate with their potential voters due to its
advanced tool and much expansive reach as compare to other social media sites.Although majority
of the politicians believed social media has changed the way politics is run, they spent less time on
social mediaaccordingto the surveyto interactwiththeirfollowers,whichinmyopinionbecomesa
ghosttown.Againmostpoliticiansindicatedthattheyfollow internalguidelinesof theirpolitical party
in other not to get caught up in controversy or any negativity on social media. In summary most

of 40
politicians social media in conjunction with the traditional way of reaching people (door-door
canvassing) is the only way forward at the moment.

of 40
7.1 Conclusion
Overall itcan be determinedthatuse of social mediasiteshassubstantial effectonpolitics.The sites
offers political candidates and parties an innovative prospect and opinion to sell themselves which
could be more treasured in long run as paralleled to old-style communication method. However,
accordingto the surveymostthe politicianswhorespondeddonotspendmuchtime onsocial media
on a daily basis therefore these platform has become somehow disengaged (No Ghost Town) with
followerwhichleadtolackof transparencyandlackof consideringlisteners.Asfarasfuture isconcern
itis fairtosay thatold-style wayof communicationwillcarryonto be usedinpolitics,however,social
networks will continue to be a vital part for political contestants. Finally, for future research, there
are a lot of detail questions need to be asked which this research did not cover it will even be
fascinating to try to do an in-depth study of the explanations behind the survey questions and
responses established.

of 40
8.0 Bibliography and References:
Bardon,S., 2015. Lorraine Higgins to tell gardaíaboutnew threatsby man. [Online]
Available at:http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/lorraine-higgins-to-tell-garda%C3%AD-about-
new-threats-by-man-1.2327415
[Accessed25thDecember2015].
Beal,V.,n.d. social media. [Online]
Available at:http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/S/social_media.html
[Accessed 25thDecember2015].
Bennett,S.,2011. The CurrentStateOf Social Media. [Online]
Available at:http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/social-media-big-four/456175
Greve,A.,2013. Common Gapsin Social Media. [Online]
Available at:https://www.sundoginteractive.com/blog/common-gaps-in-social-media
[Accessed2ndOctober2015].
Hawkins,R.,2015. Tories' £100,000 a month Facebookbill. [Online]
Available at:http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-31141547
Hendricks,D.,2013. CompleteHistory of Social Media:Then And Now. [Online]
Available at:http://smallbiztrends.com/2013/05/the-complete-history-of-social-media-
infographic.html
Jerpi,L.,2012. Political Campaignsand SocialMedia. [Online]
Available at:http://source.southuniversity.edu/political-campaigns-and-social-media-tweeting-their-
way-into-office-106986.aspx
Jordan,A.,2014. Ireland'spolitical parties on social media:. [Online]
Available at:http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/politics/irelands-political-parties-social-
media-4559703
[Accessed22ndDecember2015].
King,V.,2011. David Cameron LinkedIn:Socialmedia in UK politics. [Online]
Available at:http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-15293934
[Accessed23rd December2015].
Lynch,K. & Hogan, J.,2012. HOW IRISH POLITICALPARTIESAREUSINGSOCIALNETWORKINGSITES
TO REACH GENERATION Z. [Online]
Available at:http://dit.ie/icr/media/diticr/documents/6%20Lynch.pdf
[Accessed3rdOctober2015].
Martinez,I.,2014. SenateElections 2014. [Online]
Available at:http://www.augure.com/blog/senate-elections-influencers-20141104

of 40
Mason, R.,2014. Social media users warned againstfalsely calling politicians paedophiles. [Online]
Available at:http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/jul/08/social-media-users-warned-against-
making-false-allegations-mps-paedophiles
Michel,A.& Pilkington,E.,2012. Obama passesYouTubemilestoneasonlinevideosremake
campaigning. [Online]
Available at:http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jul/24/obama-youtube-milestone-online-
videos
NewMediaCampaign,n.d. Using SocialMedia in Political Campaigns. [Online]
Available at:http://www.newmediacampaigns.com/page/using-social-media-in-political-campaigns
[Accessed7thJanuary2016].
O'Brien,K.,2014. 82% of TDs havesuffered abuseon socialmedia. [Online]
Available at:http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/82-of-tds-have-suffered-abuse-on-social-media-
285408.html
O'Neill,M.,2012. HowHas Social Media Impacted Political Fundraising?[Infographic]. [Online]
Available at:http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/political-fundraising-infographic/92006
Ossian,K.L., Paddock,M. C. & PLC, S.,n.d. Legal Issuesin Social Networking. [Online]
Available at:
http://www.millercanfield.com/media/article/200120_LEGAL%20ISSUES%20IN%20SOCIAL%20NETW
ORKING.pdf
Siggins,L.,2010. Cowen rejectscriticism of radio interview performance. [Online]
Available at:http://www.irishtimes.com/news/cowen-rejects-criticism-of-radio-interview-
performance-1.864072
[Accessed21stDecember2015].
Spronsen,D.V.,2012. 5 Reasonsto Use Social Media in Political Campaigns. [Online]
Available at:http://www.exacttarget.com/blog/5-reasons-to-use-social-media-in-political-
campaigns/
Sudarshan,S.,n.d. Social media-thenewpowerof political influence. [Online]
Available at:https://www.academia.edu/8126723/SUOMEN_TOIVO_-Think_Tank_SOCIAL_MEDIA_-
THE_NEW_POWER_OF_POLITICAL_INFLUENCE
SundayIndependent,2014. Revealed: Whatshamed TD PatrickNulty sent teenager. [Online]
Available at:http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/revealed-what-shamed-td-patrick-nulty-sent-
teenager-30117320.html
Tenhunen,S.&Karvelyte,V.,2014. The Role Played By Social Media In Political Participation And
Electoral Campaigns. [Online]

of 40
Available at:http://epthinktank.eu/2014/02/12/the-role-played-by-social-media-in-political-
participation-and-electoral-campaigns/
[Accessed23rd September2015].
thejournal,2014. Fine Gael: We don’tbuy Facebook‘likes’. [Online]
Available at:http://www.thejournal.ie/fine-gael-spam-facebook-likes-1727309-Oct2014/
[Accessed25thDecember2015`].
Varghese,J.,2015. Ban Muslims:SaudiPrince Al Waleed calls Donald Trump a disgraceto America.
[Online]
Available at:http://www.ibtimes.co.in/ban-muslims-saudi-prince-al-waleed-calls-donald-trump-
disgrace-america-659208
Witt,R., 2011. Rep.Anthony Weiner's(D-NY) Twitteraccountbecomesa topic of controversy.
[Online]
Available at:http://www.examiner.com/article/rep-anthony-weiner-s-d-ny-twitter-account-
becomes-a-topic-of-controversy
Malik,N.,22 August2014. The Effectof Social Media on individualvotersin India. [Online]
Available at:
http://esource.dbs.ie/bitstream/handle/10788/2190/mba%20_malik_n_2014.pdf?sequence=1
[Accessed20 September2015].

of 40
Appendices
Appendix A: Basic function of a social media
Source: http://www.cats-pyjamas.net/2012/06/basic-functions-of-a-social-media-tool/
Appendix B: The most popular social networks
Source: http://www.augure.com/blog/senate-elections-influencers-20141104

of 40
Appendix C: Most popular social network among teenagers
Source: http://www.parentalcontrolsapps.com/the-bizarre-reality-and-impact-of-the-
internet-on-your-teenager/

FLITE 3rd YR PROJECT

Empfohlen

Empfohlen

Weitere ähnliche Inhalte

Was ist angesagt?

Was ist angesagt? (20)

Andere mochten auch

Andere mochten auch (10)

Ähnlich wie FLITE 3rd YR PROJECT

Ähnlich wie FLITE 3rd YR PROJECT (20)

FLITE 3rd YR PROJECT