This subtheme focuses on the way politicians communicate with citizens online during election campaigns, and vice versa. With the rapid growth of the use of digital media, such as social media, this way of communication has fundamentally changed. We see during election campaigns, that political parties engage in various digital strategies with various consequences for democracy. For instance, through data-driven (microtargeting) techniques, political messages are increasingly matched to individual voters online.
Many people fear that these data-driven techniques and online communication strategies are a harmful phenomenon. It can invade privacy, polarize, exclude social groups, and suppress turnout during elections. However, online communication and in particular political targeting may as well reach citizens who are difficult to reach via traditional campaigning. Plus, it can also provide relevant information on issues that individuals find important and it can mobilize more people to vote, leading to increased inclusiveness and diversity.
Within this subtheme, the DDD lab brings together research on the effects of online political communication. We aim to understand how political communication during elections affects citizens’ attitudes, opinions, and, eventually, voting behavior.
Data-Driven Democracy Lab 