Who Benefits from Twitter? Social Media and Political Competition in the U.S. House of Representatives

Government Information Quarterly, Volume 30, Issue 4, October 2013, Pages 464–472

36 Pages Posted: 15 Jun 2013 Last revised: 2 Feb 2015

Abstract

Many researchers have assumed that social media will reduce inequalities between elite politicians and those outside the political mainstream and that it will thus benefit democracy, as it circumvents the traditional media that focus too much on a few elite politicians. I test this assumption by investigating the association between U.S. Representatives using Twitter and their fundraising. Evidence suggests that (1) politicians’ adoptions of social media have yielded increased donations from outside their constituencies but little from within their own constituencies; (2) politicians with extreme ideologies tend to benefit more from their social media adoptions; and (3) the political use of social media may yield a more unequal distribution of financial resources among candidates. Finally, I discuss the implications of these findings for political equality, polarization, and democracy.

Keywords: Social media, Twitter, Campaign finance, Political money

JEL Classification: D89, D83, D80

Suggested Citation

Hong, Sounman, Who Benefits from Twitter? Social Media and Political Competition in the U.S. House of Representatives. Government Information Quarterly, Volume 30, Issue 4, October 2013, Pages 464–472, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2279309

Sounman Hong (Contact Author)

Yonsei University ( email )

Seoul
Korea, Republic of (South Korea)

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