Dr. Maggie MacDonald, assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at UK College of Arts and Sciences, studies the political behavior of American elites. Photo provided.
LEXINGTON, Ky. — In an era when political discussions often take place online, University of Kentucky researchers are examining the evolving communication strategies used in American politics, with a focus on social media.
Dr. Maggie MacDonald, assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at UK College of Arts and Sciences, studies the political behavior of American elites. Most of her work focuses on Congressional campaigns and how they use social media to achieve electoral goals.
“When I started graduate school in 2015, I decided to study Congress and Twitter,” McDonald said. “I developed a theory that the use of social media is not for voters, but instead is used by politicians to reach multiple elite audiences simultaneously.”
MacDonald noted that different political platforms attract different audiences, noting that Facebook typically appeals to an older demographic compared to TikTok and Instagram. Each platform provides a unique space for politicians to convey different messages.
“Across platforms, politicians have an incentive to get as much attention as possible and maybe even go viral,” McDonald said. “The kinds of messages that allow for proliferation are not necessarily the ones that lend themselves to compromise and boring policies.”
MacDonald said social media can sometimes give politicians incentives to become more partisan and passive in order to gain likes, media coverage, and raise money. He said there is. She says this can create the type of campaign that focuses on gaining media attention and national recognition.
Before accepting anything as reliable and encouraging more critical thinking, McDonald suggests the following tips to keep in mind when viewing political content online.
Who is posting content? Is it a news organization? Is it an influencer? Is your organization fact-checked?
As a social scientist, McDonald said he understands patterns in news and political behavior and advises people to remain curious. If something aligns perfectly with your political views, she recommends digging deeper into the source and some of the motivations that source may have.
“In some ways, online is not the real world. You can post, but that doesn’t mean you can vote, attend a rally, donate, or put up a yard sign. But At the same time, our media environment is highly fragmented. It’s relatively easy to consume only media and social media posts that align with your political views, which shapes your offline political environment. There is.”
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