Abstract
Our study compared the use of fear messages on Facebook by Barack Obama and Mitt Romney during the 2012 U.S. presidential elections. Results show that written fear messages embedded in photographs posted on Facebook by both candidates affected the degree to which those photographs were shared. More specifically, photographs containing written fear messages were shared more often than photographs not containing written fear messages. Furthermore, while the challenging candidate, Mitt Romney, used more photographs containing fear messages, the increase in shares was consistent across candidates. Implications regarding information distribution within communities, public relations practitioners specializing in political campaigning and society as a whole are discussed.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 5-15 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Media Watch |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2015 |
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Keywords
- 2012 election
- Content analysis
- Motivation theory
- Protection
- Social media
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Communication
Cite this
Sharing fear via facebook : A lesson in political public relations. / Hendrik Boehmer, Jan; Friedman, Michael B.
In: Media Watch, Vol. 6, No. 1, 01.01.2015, p. 5-15.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Sharing fear via facebook
T2 - A lesson in political public relations
AU - Hendrik Boehmer, Jan
AU - Friedman, Michael B.
PY - 2015/1/1
Y1 - 2015/1/1
N2 - Our study compared the use of fear messages on Facebook by Barack Obama and Mitt Romney during the 2012 U.S. presidential elections. Results show that written fear messages embedded in photographs posted on Facebook by both candidates affected the degree to which those photographs were shared. More specifically, photographs containing written fear messages were shared more often than photographs not containing written fear messages. Furthermore, while the challenging candidate, Mitt Romney, used more photographs containing fear messages, the increase in shares was consistent across candidates. Implications regarding information distribution within communities, public relations practitioners specializing in political campaigning and society as a whole are discussed.
AB - Our study compared the use of fear messages on Facebook by Barack Obama and Mitt Romney during the 2012 U.S. presidential elections. Results show that written fear messages embedded in photographs posted on Facebook by both candidates affected the degree to which those photographs were shared. More specifically, photographs containing written fear messages were shared more often than photographs not containing written fear messages. Furthermore, while the challenging candidate, Mitt Romney, used more photographs containing fear messages, the increase in shares was consistent across candidates. Implications regarding information distribution within communities, public relations practitioners specializing in political campaigning and society as a whole are discussed.
KW - 2012 election
KW - Content analysis
KW - Motivation theory
KW - Protection
KW - Social media
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U2 - 10.15655/mw/2015/v6i1/55371
DO - 10.15655/mw/2015/v6i1/55371
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84922042173
VL - 6
SP - 5
EP - 15
JO - Media Watch
JF - Media Watch
SN - 0976-0911
IS - 1
ER -