Communication in social media by the politicians of Lithuania

Abstract

The appearance of political communication on social media is a relatively new phenomenon. The importance of political communication can be seen in the major advantages offered by the Internet - the rapid transmission of information and the possibilities for large numbers of people to mobilize and to connect. With the prevalent use of the internet and the growth of Web 2.0 applications that have facilitated online collaboration through social networks, video, photo sharing sites, and blogs, politicians now have the ability to spread ideas more quickly, widely, and cheaply. This is especially significant for politics of Lithuania, which embraces a body of 2,5 million voters. According to the data of the Research of the the the internet users’ audience conducted by the research company TNS in 2014, around 73% of the Lithuania population has the internet connection today (TNS LT, 2014). The number of social media users significantly changed in 2014 – 65% of Lithuania internet users used social media. This number is considered to be high enough for political communication application in social media by the politicians of Lithuania. The question arises whether the politicians of Lithuania use the channels of social media in communication with their potential electors. In order to find an answer to this question, this Master Thesis aims to examine the extent of use of social media by the politicians of Lithuania to promote their image and political messages, among their supporters and peoples in social networking sites. Research objective of this Master Thesis was to analyze the activity in the social media of the members of the Seimas of 2012-2016 term, to establish the specifics of communication in the social media. To achieve and clarify the above mentioned research objectives the following methods have been chosen: quantitative analysis of the social media profiles of the members of the Seimas, semi-structured interviews with the members of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania. Quantitative analysis of the social media use, showed that 84 percent of the members of the Seimas of 2012-2016 use at least one social media form. Sex and age analysis demonstrated that male members of the Seimas rather than female are inclined to use social media more. As it was demonstrated in third chapter of this Master Thesis, in order to efficiently use strategy in social media, politicians should focus on a few of the most popular social media sites and establish a quality presence there. However, age analysis vividly illustrated that only younger members of the Seimas tend to use various social media forms. Analyzed answers of the questionnaire might be alleged that the respondents are familiar with the social media, use social media to spread their ideas, opinions, however have not gone deep into the social media strategies. Members of Seimas refrain from goal-oriented, planned and well-considered strategy in the social media. Politicians should encourage citizens to discuss different issues by posting about current, provocative and interesting topics. Their stronger presence could influence political marketing, especially when it is considered that online discussions can shape people’s opinions and behaviors, as it has been seen proven in this Master thesis.