Social media are now widely used for political protests, campaigns, and communication in developed and developing nations, but available research has not yet paid sufficient attention to experiences beyond the US and UK. This collection tackles this imbalance head-on, compiling cutting-edge research across six continents to provide a comprehensive, global, up-to-date review of recent political uses of social media.

Drawing together empirical analyses of the use of social media by political movements and in national and regional elections and referenda, The Routledge Companion to Social Media and Politics presents studies ranging from Anonymous and the Arab Spring to the Greek Aganaktismenoi, and from South Korean presidential elections to the Scottish independence referendum. The book is framed by a selection of keystone theoretical contributions, evaluating and updating existing frameworks for the social media age.

About the Author

Axel Bruns is an Australian Research Council Future Fellow and Professor in the Digital Media Research Centre at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia.

Gunn Enli is Professor of Media Studies and Head of the Research Project "Social Media and Election Campaigns" (SAC) at the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo.

Eli Skogerbo is Professor in Media Studies and Co-Head of the Political Communication Research Group at the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo.

Anders Olof Larsson is Associate Professor at Westerdals Oslo School of Arts, Communication and Technology.

Christian Christensen is Professor of Journalism at Stockholm University.

Reviews

"Comprehensive and definitive, this is an outstanding book that provides a panoramic view of politics in an era of social media. From the Mediterranean to East Asia to Oceania, from Scandinavia to sub-Sahara Africa to Latin America, the volume as a whole is truly global, yet with nuanced regional and national analyses in each chapter. Theoretically informed, the research presented here breaks new empirical grounds using latest digital methods. The result is a milestone for our collective understanding of new media technology and comparative politics in the twenty-first century." -Jack Linchuan Qiu, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

"This book brings together top scholars from across disciplines and across the globe to examine social media use in a variety of political systems and for distinct purposes. It is required reading for anyone interested in understanding the many ways that digital communication technologies now are used in political life." -Jennifer Stromer-Galley, Syracuse University

"The strength of this collection is in its diversity of international and theoretical perspectives, which make it a valuable resource providing a contemporary overview of this quickly expanding area of political communication research." -Caroline Fisher, Australian Journalism Review

Book Information
ISBN 9781138300934
Author Axel Bruns
Format Paperback
Page Count 560
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 976g