2019/03/28 by Pushkal Agarwal, Agarwal, Pushkal, Nishanth Sastry +3
Social Sciences · #E-Government and Public Services #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Media Studies and Communication #Social Media and Politics #Social and Information Networks (cs.SI)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1904.00004
openalex publication_date 2019/03/28 · openalex created_date 2022/07/29 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Disengagement and disenchantment with the Parliamentary process is an\nimportant concern in today's Western democracies. Members of Parliament (MPs)\nin the UK are therefore seeking new ways to engage with citizens, including\nbeing on digital platforms such as Twitter. In recent years, nearly all (579\nout of 650) MPs have created Twitter accounts, and have amassed huge followings\ncomparable to a sizable fraction of the country's population. This paper seeks\nto shed light on this phenomenon by examining the volume and nature of the\ninteraction between MPs and citizens. We find that although there is an\ninformation overload on MPs, attention on individual MPs is focused during\nsmall time windows when something topical may be happening relating to them.\nMPs manage their interaction strategically, replying selectively to UK-based\ncitizens and thereby serving in their role as elected representatives, and\nusing retweets to spread their party's message. Most promisingly, we find that\nTwitter opens up new avenues with substantial volumes of cross-party\ninteraction, between MPs of one party and citizens who support (follow) MPs of\nother parties.\n