London Met Repository

Modern political communication and Web 2.0 in representative democracies

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Iosifidis, Petros and Wheeler, Mark (2018) Modern political communication and Web 2.0 in representative democracies. Javnost, 25 (1-2). pp. 110-118. ISSN 1854-8377

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Abstract

During the first two decades of the twenty-first century, the social media has facilitated interactive communications between the political elites and public. In the 2016 UK Referendum, the social media became a vehicle for contested political arguments and post-truth positions defined the Remain and Leave camps. For instance, it was claimed that the United Kingdom Independence Party former leader Nigel Farage’s anti-migrant tweets influenced many voters. In the 2016 US Presidential election, the victorious celebrity property tycoon Donald Trump maintained a controversial online presence. He posted tweets about his campaign and engaged in a blatantly hateful online discourse aimed at is political opponents. Therefore, does such a usage of the social media aid democratic representation or contribute to a greater destabilisation of modern politics?

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