Abstract
This article examines parliament representatives’ Twitter-
contributions (tweets). First, the genre of communication approach is
introduced to identify common characteristics and communication
patterns. Second, the findings are analysed using various eDemocracy
models and deliberative standards to identify to what extent these
tweets could be characterized as part of a deliberative discussion.
The tweets are mainly dominated by five communication purposes;
providing links to information sources for other Twitter users, to
inform about the representative’s ongoing activities, to express views
on topical issues, introducing non-political (private) content and
participating in online discussions with other parliament
representatives. Other less frequent communication patterns include
tweets attracting attention to the representative’s own blogs,
requests for input from readers and finally discussions with citizens.
The analysed tweets generally did not meet deliberative standards and
are dominated by politicians disseminating information and discussing
with other parliament representatives. We conclude by arguing that the
parliament representatives’ Twitter use is linked to the Liberal
Democracy model, where the main purpose is to disseminate information
to electors, and provide information on ongoing activities to the
audience.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/p023783479682284/NB: Behind paywall
-Glen Newton
--
-
http://zzzoot.blogspot.com/-
Locked
