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The Relationship Between Topics, Negativity, and User Engagement in Election Campaigns on Facebook
[journal article]
Abstract Negativity is a common feature of current online political communication during elections. Previous studies on negativity and its impact on user engagement focused mainly on Western European countries. Considering the political particularities of the Central and Eastern European countries, the prese... view more
Negativity is a common feature of current online political communication during elections. Previous studies on negativity and its impact on user engagement focused mainly on Western European countries. Considering the political particularities of the Central and Eastern European countries, the present study focused on Czechia, Hungary, Lithuania, the Republic of Moldova, and Romania, where national election campaigns took place from 2020 to 2022. We aimed to investigate comparatively different topics prevalent in the negative messages and look at users' engagement with negative communication. We applied manual content analysis of N = 4,095 Facebook posts published four weeks before the elections by political parties elected in the national parliament. Results showed significant differences across countries using negative messages and the associated topics. The posts' highest rate of negative statements was identified in Czechia (52%), while the lowest was in Lithuania (17%). There are topics consistently associated with negative statements across most countries, such as corruption, economy and finance, foreign policy, labor, and social issues. However, given that those elections took place during the Covid-19 pandemic in Czechia, Lithuania, Romania, and the Republic of Moldova and, in Hungary, after Russia invaded Ukraine, we also identified contextual topics such as health, war, and conflicts with other countries and defense that were mainly associated with negative messages. Furthermore, negative posts generate more reactions and comments than posts containing no negative statements. Addressing foreign policy in negative posts generates significantly more reactions and comments.... view less
Keywords
Eastern Europe; Central Europe; facebook; election; election campaign; political communication; campaign; social media
Classification
Interactive, electronic Media
Media Contents, Content Analysis
Political Process, Elections, Political Sociology, Political Culture
Free Keywords
campaign topics; national elections; negative campaign; user engagement
Document language
English
Publication Year
2024
Journal
Politics and Governance, 12 (2024)
Issue topic
How Political Issues Shape Social Media Campaigns for National Elections
ISSN
2183-2463
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed