A tale of three tribes : UK MPs, Twitter and the EU Referendum (2019)
Journal Article

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.

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.

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’.