Turds, traitors and tossers : the abuse of UK MPs via Twitter (2020)
Journal Article
Ward, S., & Mcloughlin, L. (2020). Turds, traitors and tossers : the abuse of UK MPs via Twitter. Journal of Legislative Studies, 26(1), 47-73. https://doi.org/10.1080/13572334.2020.1730502

There has been growing public attention around the abuse of MPs online including criminal convictions for violent threats, regular coverage of racist and misogynistic language directed at representatives. Yet, the extent of the problem and patterns o... Read More about Turds, traitors and tossers : the abuse of UK MPs via Twitter.

‘Hello, world’ : GCHQ, Twitter and social media engagement (2020)
Journal Article
McLoughlin, L., Ward, S., & Lomas, D. (2020). ‘Hello, world’ : GCHQ, Twitter and social media engagement. Intelligence and National Security, 35(2), 233-251. https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2020.1713434

In May 2016, Britain’s signals intelligence agency the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) joined the social media platform Twitter with the message ‘Hello, world’. For an agency once seen as the UK’s ‘most secret’, GCHQ’s moved to social m... Read More about ‘Hello, world’ : GCHQ, Twitter and social media engagement.

A tale of three tribes : UK MPs, Twitter and the EU Referendum (2019)
Journal Article
Ward, S., McLoughlin, L., Southern, R., & Gibson, R. (2020). A tale of three tribes : UK MPs, Twitter and the EU Referendum. Information Polity, 25(1), 49-66. https://doi.org/10.3233/IP-190140

This paper examines the structure of Twitter communication networks between MPs during the 2016 EU Referendum campaign. In particular, the research examines the impact of Twitter in two dimensions: (1) how far social media might facilitate inter-part... Read More about A tale of three tribes : UK MPs, Twitter and the EU Referendum.

Socially networked heterogeneity : the influence of WhatsApp as a social networking site on polarisation in Kenya (2019)
Journal Article
Kibet, A., & Ward, S. (2019). Socially networked heterogeneity : the influence of WhatsApp as a social networking site on polarisation in Kenya. African Journalism Studies, 39(4), 42-66. https://doi.org/10.1080/23743670.2018.1537979

Using a cross-sectional survey of two sampled counties in Kenya, this article analyses whether social networking sites reflect social network heterogeneity. It then examines how social network heterogeneity influences polarisation in Kenya. Three typ... Read More about Socially networked heterogeneity : the influence of WhatsApp as a social networking site on polarisation in Kenya.

Out with the old in with the new? The media campaign (2018)
Journal Article
Ward, S., & Wring, D. (2018). Out with the old in with the new? The media campaign. Parliamentary Affairs, 71(S1), 203-221. https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsx057

The 2017 General Election will likely be remembered as the campaign where the once dominant forms of TV and print journalism were challenged by digital platforms. This chapter analyses this development while also acknowledging that social media netwo... Read More about Out with the old in with the new? The media campaign.

Digital campaigning (2017)
Book Chapter
Ward, S., Gibson, R., & Cantijoch, M. (2017). Digital campaigning. In J. Fisher, E. Fieldhouse, M. Franklin, R. Gibson, M. Cantijoch, & C. Wlezien (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Elections, Voting Behaviour and Public Opinion (319-341). London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315712390

It is now over 20 years since political parties began to move online and fight elections using new internet technologies, although in most established democracies it took another decade, or more, before internet access spread to the majority of voter... Read More about Digital campaigning.

MPs, Twitter & the EU referendum campaign (2016)
Presentation / Conference
Ward, S., Mcloughlin, L., Gibson, R., & Southern, R. (2016, September). MPs, Twitter & the EU referendum campaign. Presented at Elections Parties and Opinion Polls Annual Conference, University of Kent, UK

In the UK, as in many democracies there has been a rapid rise of MPs using Twitter over the past six years. From being a relative novelty in 2010, over one parliamentary cycle, the technology had been normalized by 2015 with 576 MPs having Twitter ac... Read More about MPs, Twitter & the EU referendum campaign.

Introduction : the importance of method in the study of the ‘Political Internet’ (2014)
Book Chapter
Sudulich, L., Wall, M., Gibson, R., Cantijoch, M., & Ward, S. (2014). Introduction : the importance of method in the study of the ‘Political Internet’. In Analyzing social media data and web networks (1-21). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137276773_1

In this introduction, we outline our understanding of the ‘political Internet’ and present the methodologically focused approach that we take to the topic in this volume. We then discuss the growing social and political relevance of the Internet and... Read More about Introduction : the importance of method in the study of the ‘Political Internet’.