<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>This article contributes to the literature on political agenda-setting on social media in the local context. Using interviews with local politicians in northern Norway, we discuss local politicians’ use of social media for agenda-setting in between elections from an agency perspective. We ask whether local politicians seek to promote and control the definition of an issue on social media, and whether local politicians are influenced by citizens’ opinions on these platforms. We find that local politicians do take advantage of social media in the agenda-setting process, both for problem definition and to sell their ideas. Our findings reveal that local politicians use social media to bypass traditional media for political messaging and that they are sensitive to public opinion on Facebook. Furthermore, there is evidence in our study of online debates brought into formal policymaking processes.</p>
</abstract>

This article contributes to the literature on political agenda-setting on social media in the local context. Using interviews with local politicians in northern Norway, we discuss local politicians’ use of social media for agenda-setting in between elections from an agency perspective. We ask whether local politicians seek to promote and control the definition of an issue on social media, and whether local politicians are influenced by citizens’ opinions on these platforms. We find that local politicians do take advantage of social media in the agenda-setting process, both for problem definition and to sell their ideas. Our findings reveal that local politicians use social media to bypass traditional media for political messaging and that they are sensitive to public opinion on Facebook. Furthermore, there is evidence in our study of online debates brought into formal policymaking processes.

Social media as an agenda-setting instrument in local politics

Nordicom Review

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"Social media as an agenda-setting instrument in local politics"}

This article contributes to the literature on political agenda-setting on social media in the local context. Using interviews with local politicians in...

Social media as an agenda-setting instrument in local politics

Publié en ligne: 25 sept. 2023

Pages: 299 - 314

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2023-0016

Mots clés
social media, agenda-setting, local politics, political communication, northern Norway

© 2023 Beate Steinveg et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Social media as an agenda-setting instrument in local politics

Publié en ligne: 25 sept. 2023

Pages: 299 - 314

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2023-0016

Mots cléssocial media, agenda-setting, local politics, political communication, northern Norway

© 2023 Beate Steinveg et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Mots clés
social media, agenda-setting, local politics, political communication, northern Norway