Suchergebnisse

Homophily, the tendency of people to have ties with those who are similar, is a fundamental pattern to understand human relations. As such, the study of homophily can provide key insights into the flow of information and behaviors within political contexts. Indeed, some degree of polarization is necessary for the functioning of liberal democracies, but too much polarization can increase the adoption of extreme political positions and create democratic gridlock. The relationship between homophilous communication ties and political polarization is thus fundamental because it affects a pillar of democratic regimes: the need for public debate where divergent ideas and interests can be confronted. This research compares the degree of homophily and political polarization in Catalan MPs' Twitter mentions network to Dutch MPs' Twitter mentions network. Exponential random graph models were employed on a one-year sample of mentions among Dutch MPs (N = 7,356) and on a one-year, three-month sample of mentions among Catalan MPs (N = 19,507). Party polarization was measured by calculating the external-internal index of both Twitter mentions networks. Results reveal that the mentions among Catalan MPs are much more homophilous than those among the Dutch MPs. Indeed, there is a positive relationship between the degree of MPs' homophilous communication ties and the degree of political polarization observed in each network.

Aquesta dissertació es centra en trobar plausibles i refutables explicacions a les interaccions dels partits catalans i els seus representants a Facebook i a Twitter. Intenta donar resposta a una pregunta clara i simple: estan les xarxes socials desafiant la Política? La dissertació vol donar resposta a aquesta pregunta mitjançant l'ús de mètodes estadístics i d'anàlisi de xarxes. La tesis mostra que les interaccions dels partits i dels seus representants a les xarxes socials depenen de factors contextuals, organitzatius, ideològics, electorals i de xarxa. A més a més, els resultats de la dissertació apunten que les xarxes socials estan obrint una nova arena política en la que apareixent nous líders d'opinió que competeixen amb els líders dels partits polítics. En definitiva, aquesta tesis corrobora que les xarxes socials estan desafiant la Política al obrir una nova arena política en xarxa en la que els partits polítics i els seus representants maniobren per garantir la seva supervivència política. ; Esta disertación se centra en hallar plausibles y refutables explicaciones a las interacciones de los partidos catalanes y sus representantes en Facebook y en Twitter. Intenta dar respuesta a una pregunta clara y simple: ¿están las redes sociales desafiando la Política? La disertación quiere dar respuesta a esta pregunta mediante el uso de métodos estadísticos y de análisis de redes. La tesis muestra que las interacciones de los partidos y de sus representantes en las redes sociales dependen de factores contextuales, organizativos, ideológicos, electorales y de redes. Además, los resultados de la disertación apuntan que las redes sociales están abriendo una nueva arena política en la que aparecen nuevos líderes de opinión que compiten con los líderes de los partidos políticos. En definitiva, esta tesis corrobora que las redes sociales están desafiando la Política al abrir una nueva arena política en red en la que los partidos políticos y sus representantes maniobran para garantizar su supervivencia política. ; This dissertation focuses on sorting out plausible and refutable explanations of Catalan parties' and their representatives' interaction on Facebook and Twitter. It tries to answer a simple and clear question: Are social media challenging Politics? The dissertation proposes to answer that question by bridging statistical and social network methods. The dissertation shows that parties and their representatives' interactions on social media depend on contextual, organizational, ideological, electoral and network factors. Also, the dissertation's findings points to the fact that social media are opening a new political arena in which new opinion leaders are taking the floor and competing with parties' leaderships. In short, this thesis corroborates that social media are challenging Politics by opening a new online political arena within which parties and their representatives' are maneuvering to guarantee their political survival.

Aquesta dissertació es centra en trobar plausibles i refutables explicacions a les interaccions dels partits catalans i els seus representants a Facebook i a Twitter. Intenta donar resposta a una pregunta clara i simple: estan les xarxes socials desafiant la Política? La dissertació vol donar resposta a aquesta pregunta mitjançant l'ús de mètodes estadístics i d'anàlisi de xarxes. La tesis mostra que les interaccions dels partits i dels seus representants a les xarxes socials depenen de factors contextuals, organitzatius, ideològics, electorals i de xarxa. A més a més, els resultats de la dissertació apunten que les xarxes socials estan obrint una nova arena política en la que apareixent nous líders d'opinió que competeixen amb els líders dels partits polítics. En definitiva, aquesta tesis corrobora que les xarxes socials estan desafiant la Política al obrir una nova arena política en xarxa en la que els partits polítics i els seus representants maniobren per garantir la seva supervivència política. ; This dissertation focuses on sorting out plausible and refutable explanations of Catalan parties' and their representatives' interaction on Facebook and Twitter. It tries to answer a simple and clear question: Are social media challenging Politics? The dissertation proposes to answer that question by bridging statistical and social network methods. The dissertation shows that parties and their representatives' interactions on social media depend on contextual, organizational, ideological, electoral and network factors. Also, the dissertation's findings points to the fact that social media are opening a new political arena in which new opinion leaders are taking the floor and competing with parties' leaderships. In short, this thesis corroborates that social media are challenging Politics by opening a new online political arena within which parties and their representatives' are maneuvering to guarantee their political survival. ; Esta disertación se centra en hallar plausibles y refutables explicaciones a las ...

This article analyzes the magnitude and effects of YoSoy132 political movement on how presidential candidates behaved through their online accounts and how the electorate related to them.Firstly, YoSoy132 increased the number of twitter responses from Andrés Manuel López Obrador,Enrique Peña Nieto and Josefina Vázquez Mota. Secondly, this movement has related itself differently with the candidates and has had distinct outcomes on internet users' voting behavior. In the end, the YoSoy132 movement shaped up the voting intentions of twitter account holders more sothan the Mexican electorate themselves. ; Se investiga la existencia, magnitud y dirección de los efectos derivados de la actividad política del Movimiento YoSoy132 tanto en la conducta online de los candidatos presidenciales como en la del electorado mexicano. En primer lugar se observa que la aparición del Movimiento YoSoy132 provocó un aumento de la actividad de las cuentas de Twitter de Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Enrique Peña Nieto y Josefina Vázquez Mota. En segundo lugar se comprueban los efectos dispares del YoSoy132 sobre la intención de voto de los usuarios mexicanos con respecto a los tres candidatos así como en la relación del movimiento con éstos. En último término se corrobora que el movimientoen red YoSoy132 afectó en mayor medida la intención de voto de los usuarios de Twitter mexicanos que la del electorado del país.

Use of social media by political parties has become a part of their communication strategies. In Catalonia, where around 20% of Internet users obtain political information through Facebook and Twitter, parties use these channels widely. This article has examined 814 posts, 5,772 comments, 52,470 likes and 25,907 shares from the official Facebook pages of Catalan parties in order to ascertain the relevance of the classical party characteristics (party size, level of institutionalization, centralization of decision-making, position at the ideological cleavages) on how parties and their followers behave on Facebook. The data sustain that the characteristics of Catalan parties have an influence on their posting behaviour on Facebook, and mould the reactions (comments, likes and shares) of their Facebook followers to these posts. The results further show that small and new parties achieve greater engagement than bigger and more institutionalized parties.

Social media is transforming relations among members of parliaments, but are members taking advantage of these new media to broaden their party and ideological communication environment, or they are mainly communicating with other party members and ideologically aligned peers? This article tests whether parliamentarians' use of Twitter is opening communication flows or confining them to representatives of the same party or ideology. The study is based on a data set spanning the period January 1, 2013, to March 31, 2014, which covers all relations (4,516), retweets (6,045), and mentions (19,507) among Catalan parliamentarians. Our results indicate that communication flows are polarized along party and ideological lines. The degree of polarization of this network depends, however, on where the interactions occur: The relations network is the most polarized; cross-party and cross-ideological interactions are greater in the retweet network and most present in the mention network.

The use of social media by parliamentarians is opening up a new communication arena. In Catalonia, where 85 percent of parliamentarians have a Twitter account, two questions emerge from this new social phenomenon. First, who are the opinion leaders of the parliamentarians' online political networks, and second, do the characteristics of the Members of Parliament' (MPs') Twitter networks and the attributes of the parliamentarians influence the likelihood of forming communication ties? This article seeks to ascertain whether social media are challenging party politics and leadership in communication flows in Parliament. We used a social network analysis of relationships among the Catalan parliamentarians with Twitter accounts (115 of the 135 members) to reveal the potential influencers of the following-follower network. Exponential Random Graph models were employed to determine the endogenous (network) and exogenous (node attributes) factors facilitating MPs' communication ties. We found evidence that Catalan MPs' communication ties arise from network dynamics (reciprocity and popularity) and from MPs' political position. We also discovered that new potential influencers, who are not official party leaders and do not play important roles in Parliament, are emerging as brokers within the Catalan parliamentary Twitter network.

The use of social media by parliamentarians is opening up a new communication arena. In Catalonia, where 85 percent of parliamentarians have a Twitter account, two questions emerge from this new social phenomenon. First, who are the opinion leaders of the parliamentarians' online political networks, and second, do the characteristics of the Members of Parliament' (MPs') Twitter networks and the attributes of the parliamentarians influence the likelihood of forming communication ties? This article seeks to ascertain whether social media are challenging party politics and leadership in communication flows in Parliament. We used a social network analysis of relationships among the Catalan parliamentarians with Twitter accounts (115 of the 135 members) to reveal the potential influencers of the following–follower network. Exponential Random Graph models were employed to determine the endogenous (network) and exogenous (node attributes) factors facilitating MPs' communication ties. We found evidence that Catalan MPs' communication ties arise from network dynamics (reciprocity and popularity) and from MPs' political position. We also discovered that new potential influencers, who are not official party leaders and do not play important roles in Parliament, are emerging as brokers within the Catalan parliamentary Twitter network.

The use of social media by parliamentarians is opening up a new communication arena. In Catalonia, where 85 percent of parliamentarians have a Twitter account, two questions emerge from this new social phenomenon. First, who are the opinion leaders of the parliamentarians' online political networks, and second, do the characteristics of the Members of Parliament' (MPs') Twitter networks and the attributes of the parliamentarians influence the likelihood of forming communication ties? This article seeks to ascertain whether social media are challenging party politics and leadership in communication flows in Parliament. We used a social network analysis of relationships among the Catalan parliamentarians with Twitter accounts (115 of the 135 members) to reveal the potential influencers of the following-follower network. Exponential Random Graph models were employed to determine the endogenous (network) and exogenous (node attributes) factors facilitating MPs' communication ties. We found evidence that Catalan MPs' communication ties arise from network dynamics (reciprocity and popularity) and from MPs' political position. We also discovered that new potential influencers, who are not official party leaders and do not play important roles in Parliament, are emerging as brokers within the Catalan parliamentary Twitter network.

This article seeks to test whether Twitter is contributing to the appearance of new opinion leaders or empowering already visible political leaders. The study is based on a data set spanning from January 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014 that covers all relationships (4,516), retweets (6,045) and mentions (19,507) of Catalan parliamentarians. The data sustains that having a parliamentarian position increases the probability of being an opinion leader of the following–follower and mention networks, but not so much of the retweet network. Although Twitter parliamentary networks reproduce leaderships "as usual," the most central opinion leaders in the retweet network are not official party leaders. Twitter activity, not official leadership, is a stronger predictor of centrality for both retweets and mentions received.

This article seeks to test if Twitter is opening communication flows between parties and paving the way for the appearance of network leaderships or if it is reducing them to representatives of the same party or ideology and empowering party leaders. The study is based on a dataset spanning from 1 January 2013 to 31 March 2014 which covers all relationships (4,516), retweets (6,045) and mentions (19,507) of Catalan parliamentarians. The data sustain that the political polarisation of Catalan parliamentarians¿ Twitter flows is deeper in the relationship and retweet networks than it is in the mention and that even if party leaders are still at the centre of communication flows, other parliamentarians are taking the floor and becoming network leaders. ; Este artículo trata de probar si Twitter abre flujos de comunicación entre partidos distintos y allana el camino para la aparición de liderazgos en la red o si los reduce a representantes del mismo partido o ideología y empodera a los líderes del partido. El estudio se basa en un conjunto de datos que abarca desde 1 de enero de 2013 al 31 de marzo de 2014 e incluye todas las relaciones (4516), retweets (6045) y menciones (19.507) de los parlamentarios catalanes. Los datos sostienen que la polarización política de los parlamentarios catalanes en los intercambios de Twitter es más profunda en las redes de relaciones y las redes de retweets que en las redes de menciones y que, aunque los líderes del partido se encuentran todavía en el centro de los flujos de comunicación, otros parlamentarios están tomando la palabra y se están convirtiendo en líderes en la red.