Outputs (23)

SNSs and deliberative governance in a polarised society : the role of WhatsApp groups in Kenyan counties (2020)
Thesis
Kibet, A. SNSs and deliberative governance in a polarised society : the role of WhatsApp groups in Kenyan counties. (Thesis). University of Salford

Kenya has experienced polarisation that has sometimes resulted in conflict. As a remedy, the Kenyan constitution, reviewed in 2010, and other legislation prescribes deliberative governance as one of the solutions to polarisation in sub-national Kenya... Read More about SNSs and deliberative governance in a polarised society : the role of WhatsApp groups in Kenyan counties.

From bad to worse? The media and the 2019 election campaign (2020)
Journal Article
Wring, D., & Ward, S. (2020). From bad to worse? The media and the 2019 election campaign. Parliamentary Affairs, 73(Sup. 1), 272-287. https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsaa033

From Twitter to the BBC, media platforms were perceived as having had ‘a bad election’. The story of the 2019 media campaign focussed primarily on the negative. There were continual claims of misinformation and deliberate disinformation spread via so... Read More about From bad to worse? The media and the 2019 election campaign.

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.

How social media is changing political representation in the United Kingdom (2019)
Thesis
McLoughlin, L. (in press). How social media is changing political representation in the United Kingdom. (Thesis). University of Salford

Since the introduction of social media into everyday communication, a series of claims and counterclaims have been made about its potential to either rectify or exacerbate the so-called crisis within representative democracy. Theoretical arguments... Read More about How social media is changing political representation in the United Kingdom.

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.