Expression of the Objectives of Interactive Electoral Communication: The Study of 2011 Municipal Council Elections ; Interaktyvios rinkiminės komunikacijos siekinių raiška: 2011 m. savivaldybių tarybų rinkimų atvejis

Abstract

The process of interactive electoral communication initiated by politicians in social media is the object of the dissertation. The aim of the paper is to develop a comprehensive research approach to politicians' electoral communication in social media and to use the approach in describing the specificity of electoral communication taking place in social media, determining the features of expression of the candidates' electoral objectives, and making an analysis of the communication that took place in an interactive environment during the elections to municipal councils in 2011. In the first part of the thesis, the notion of interactive electoral communication in social media is defined, development of electoral communication in a virtual environment is discussed, and an in-depth analysis of the features of interactive electoral communication in social media is presented. In the second part of the thesis, a process model of interactive electoral communication in social media is formulated and objectives of electoral communication in an interactive environment are identified and analysed, including a detailed examination of their practical application. The third part of the thesis is an empirical study into interactive electoral communication, where the electoral campaign that took place in an interactive environment during the 2011 elections to municipal councils is comprehensively analysed using the process model of the electoral communication objectives.