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Distract and divert: How world leaders use social media during contentious politics

  • How do leaders communicate during domestic crises? We provide the first global analysis of world leader communication on social media during social unrest. We develop a theory of leaders’ digital communication strategies, building on the diversionary theory of foreign policy, as well as research on the role of democratic institutions in explaining elite responsiveness. To test our theory, we construct a new dataset that characterizes leader communication through social media posts published by any head of state or government on Twitter or Facebook, employing a combination of automated translation and supervised machine learning methods. Our findings show that leaders increase their social media activity and shift the topic from domestic to foreign policy issues during moments of social unrest, which is consistent with a conscious strategy to divert public attention when their position could be at risk. These effects are larger in democracies and in particular in the run-up to elections, which we attribute to incentives created by democratic institutions. Our results demonstrate how social media provide meaningful comparative insight into leaders’ political behavior in the digital age.

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Metadaten
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Author(s):Pablo Barberá, Anita R. GohdesORCiD, Evgeniia Iakhnis, Thomas Zeitzoff
Parent Title (English):The International Journal of Press/Politics
Publication year:2024
Publishing Institution:Hertie School
First Page:47
Last Page:73
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612221102030
Release Date:2023/02/10
Volume:29
Issue:1
AY 22/23:AY 22/23
Hertie School Research:Centre for International Security
Licence of document (German):Metadaten / metadata
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