Twitter in the 2013 Australian ElectionProf. Axel BrunsARC Future FellowARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and InnovationQueensland University of Technologya.bruns@qut.edu.au – @snurb_dot_info – http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

BACKGROUND

• Research projects:– ARC Discovery: New Media and Public Communication (QUT)– NRC FRISAM: Impact of Social Media on Agenda-Setting in Election

Campaigns (QUT, UiO, UiB, Uppsala, CSU LB)– ATN-DAAD: Mapping Networked Politics (QUT, LMU)

• Study design:– Comparative study of Twitter usage during Australian, Norwegian,

German (and US) election– Tracking tweets from and at Twitter accounts of MPs and candidates

before, during, and after election campaigns– Additional analysis of follower networks, national Twitterspheres, social

media / mainstream media intersections, etc.

AUSTRALIAN POLITICIANS ON TWITTER

(data to June 2013)

@TONYABBOTTMHR’S FAKE FOLLOWERS

(11/12 Aug. 2013)

@MENTIONS OF LEADERS (@REPLIES + RETWEETS)

TV debates

Abbott ‘sex appeal’ comments Labor campaign

‘launch’

RETWEETS OF LEADERS

@MENTIONS OF LEADERS

@MENTIONS OF PARTY CANDIDATES(@KRUDDMP AND @TONYABBOTTMHR REMOVED)

@MENTIONS

RETWEETS (ALL USERS)

Liberals

Labor

Pirates

WikiLeaks

Greens

Palmer

Katter +Nationals

@MENTIONS BETWEEN POLITICIANS

RETWEETS BETWEEN POLITICIANS

TWEETS BY LEADERS

TWEETS BY PARTY CANDIDATES

TWEETS BY LOCAL CANDIDATES

@MENTIONS OF LOCAL CANDIDATES

@MENTIONS (ELECTION DAY)

SOME FIRST CONCLUSIONS

• Campaigning styles:– Liberal Party:

• ‘small target’ strategy (better to remain silent than to make mistakes)• focus on leadership team to avoid negative perceptions of Abbott and gaffes by local

candidates– Labor Party:

• strong campaigns by many local candidates• lack of coordination across leadership team• Rudd surprising quiet on social media

– Greens:• high levels of activity, especially from Milne – too much?

• Public resonance:– discussion mainly about leaders, rather than engaging with / retweeting them– no partisan choices in @mentions of political candidates– strongly partisan selectivity in retweets of political candidates, few retweets overall– more @mentions of Labor candidates, especially on election night: encouraging?

GERMANY

@MENTIONS OF LEADERS

(@KRuddMP: 172,000 @mentions)

@MENTIONS OF PARTY CANDIDATES

(ALP: 321,000 @mentions)

TWEETS BY PARTY CANDIDATES

(ALP: 16,600 tweets)

THE HYPOMETERTM

• iOS app developed as functional prototype to act as a ‘modern TV Guide’ for Australian television

• Calculates social media ‘hype’ via a proprietary algorithm which accounts for national and industry context

• Ongoing evaluation of both hype figures and predictions vs. post-show TV ratings and social media engagement.

Application to measuring electorate engagement with political accounts?

http://mappingonlinepublics.net/@snurb_dot_info@jeanburgess@timhighfield@dpwoodford@tsadkowsky@quods

@socialmediaQUThttp://socialmedia.qut.edu.au/