Using tweets posted with #SOPA and #PIPA hashtags and directed at members of Congress, we identify six strategies constituents employ when... Show moreUsing tweets posted with #SOPA and #PIPA hashtags and directed at members of Congress, we identify six strategies constituents employ when using Twitter to lobby their elected officials. In contrast to earlier research, we found that constituents do use Twitter to try to engage their officials and not just as a “soapbox” to express their opinions. Show less
Paper presented at #IR16 the annual conference of the Association of Internet Researchers Paper presented at #IR16 the annual conference of the... Show morePaper presented at #IR16 the annual conference of the Association of Internet Researchers Paper presented at #IR16 the annual conference of the Association of Internet Researchers Show less
Twitter is increasingly becoming a medium through which constituents can lobby their elected representatives in Congress about issues that... Show moreTwitter is increasingly becoming a medium through which constituents can lobby their elected representatives in Congress about issues that matter to them. Past research has focused on how citizens communicate with each other or how members of Congress (MOCs) use social media in general; our research examines how citizens communicate with MOCs. We contribute to existing literature through the careful examination of hundreds of citizen-authored tweets and the development of a categorization scheme to describe common strategies of lobbying on Twitter. Our findings show that contrary to past research that assumed citizens used Twitter to merely shout out their opinions on issues, citizens utilize a variety of sophisticated techniques to impact political outcomes. Show less
