THE SUPERINTENDENT’S FEED: AN ANALYSIS OF SUPERINTENDENTS’ ENGAGEMENT IN POLITICAL DISCOURSE ON TWITTER

The modern school superintendent fulfills a unique role in the American public education system. He or she is structurally empowered as the de facto head of the local educational system, thereby granted with a certain amount of trust and authority regarding educational issues. At the same time, the superintendent is, in most cases, an employee of a politically appointed school board. This construction creates a dynamic wherein the superintendent is both the leader of a highly structured, bureaucratic system, while at the same time an employee of a largely lay, often elected, group of citizens. The position of the superintendent is highly informed by the role conceptualizations first posited by Callahan (1966). Callahan argued that there are four distinct normative roles that superintendents must fill: scholarly educational leader, business executive, educational statesman, and applied social scientist. In this study, I pay special attention to the role of educational statesman, which is alternatively referred to as political strategist by later scholars (Björk & Gurley, 2005; Brunner, Grogan, & Björk, 2002). I have examined the role of political strategist as it has manifest on the social media platform Twitter. Twitter use has become a common practice among educational leaders for a variety of reasons, including the development of professional learning networks, communicating with stakeholders, and even engaging in policy discussions (Roth, 2016; Sauers & Richardson, 2015). To date, the intersection of social media use and political engagement by superintendents has been overlooked within the field, but the practice is common and has significant importance for the discipline. I employed a two-phase analysis to explore this topic. First, I have utilized discourse analysis to better understand the constructive nature of the talk and text provided by superintendents on Twitter. The second phase of analysis employs a modified photo-elicitation methodology, wherein a subset of superintendents (7) were interviewed in a semi-structured format prompted by instances of their own political tweeting. Findings from this study indicate that superintendents are using Twitter to discuss macro-political topics and employ sophisticated strategies in order to both project the image they want to be seen and to protect themselves from the political ramifications that might accompany such discourse. I believe that these findings have importance in the way superintendents engage with their community stakeholders and indicate that there should be more attention paid to an evolving nature of communication for the position

A construção discursiva do superintendente política no Twitter

The modern school superintendent fulfills a unique role in the U.S. public education system. He or she is structurally empowered as the de facto head of the local educational system, thereby granted with a certain amount of trust and authority regarding educational issues. At the same time, the superintendent is, in most cases, an employee of a politically appointed school board. While norms have traditionally encouraged superintendents to use caution with respect to political discourse (Boyd, 1974), social media has created a new platform upon which they can reach a broad range of stakeholders regarding many issues, including politics. This study seeks to better understand the emerging practice of political discourse by superintendents on Twitter. Employing discursive psychology principles (Potter Wetherell, 1992), I will analyze the political tweets of superintendents and position current practices in relation to established role conceptualizations of the position. Findings include that superintendents utilize Twitter as a tool to establish their positions as political insiders and as advocates for students.El director de la escuela moderna desempeña un papel único en el sistema de educación pública de Estados Unidos. Él o ella está facultado estructuralmente como jefe de hecho, el sistema de educación local, así concedida con una cierta cantidad de confianza y autoridad en temas educativos. Al mismo tiempo, el superintendente suele ser un empleado de una junta escolar de designación política. Aunque las normas que tradicionalmente han animado a los superintendentes tener precaución con respecto a la expresión política (Boyd, 1974), las redes sociales han creado una nueva plataforma en la que pueden lograr una amplia gama de partes interesadas sobre muchos temas, incluyendo la política. Este estudio busca entender mejor la práctica que emerge del discurso político de los supervisores en Twitter. El empleo de principios de la psicología discursiva (Potter y Wetherell, 1992) analizan los tweets políticos de superintendentes y posicionarei prácticas actuales con respecto a la conceptualización de los roles establecidos de la posición. Los resultados incluyen los superintendentes utilizan Twitter como una herramienta para establecer sus posiciones como actores políticos y promotores de los estudiantes.O superintendente escolar moderno cumpre um papel único no sistema de educação pública dos EUA. Ele ou ela é estruturalmente habilitada como chefe de fato do sistema educacional local, concedido assim com uma certa quantidade de confiança e autoridade em relação a questões educacionais. Ao mesmo tempo, o superintendente é geralmente um empregado de um conselho escolar politicamente nomeado. Embora as normas tenham tradicionalmente encorajado os superintendentes a usarem de cautela em relação ao discurso político (Boyd, 1974), as mídias sociais criaram uma nova plataforma sobre a qual eles podem alcançar uma ampla gama de interessados em muitos assuntos, incluindo a política. Este estudo busca compreender melhor a prática emergente do discurso político dos superintendentes no Twitter. Empregando princípios de psicologia discursiva (Potter Wetherell, 1992), analisarei os tweets políticos dos superintendentes e posicionarei as práticas atuais em relação às conceitualizações de papéis estabelecidas da posição. Os resultados incluem que os superintendentes utilizam o Twitter como uma ferramenta para estabelecer suas posições como insiders políticos e como advogados para os alunos

Digital media and democratization: The role of x in promoting participatory democracy in Rwanda.

Amidst the ever-evolving landscape of digital media\u27s impact on democracy, this study explored the nuanced relationship between X and participatory democracy in Rwanda. Anchored on the Theory of Public Sphere and New Media Theory, this research shed light on the multifaceted interactions between citizens and politicians on X in Rwanda. By quantifying the interactions between politicians and citizens, finding out whether accountability mechanisms exist on the platform, and citizen-driven concerns; the study aimed to offer a comprehensive understanding of X\u27s role in promoting participatory democracy in Rwanda. Situated within the Rwandan political context, this study gains significance as it navigates the unexplored ground of X\u27s role in democratic practices within a country with a complex political history. The emergence of X as a platform for official communication and citizen engagement in Rwanda underscores the urgency of assessing its contribution to accountability and discourse within a rapidly evolving political landscape. Employing the quantitative content analysis method, this research examined the frequency of interactions and recurring concerns that emerge from citizen-politician interactions. The quantitative approach enabled a nuanced exploration of the issues that occupy the center of political accountability discourse. Findings revealed that politicians engage either frequently or occasionally on X in interactions that gives citizens the capability to hold them accountable in shaping citizens’ priorities. The study also found that various subjects are discussed on X in Rwanda, where politics and social interactions take the lead. By synthesizing the perspectives of the Theory of Public Sphere and New Media Theory, this research offers practical insights for policymakers and digital media practitioners seeking to enhance democratic engagement

Storying leaks for sharing: The case of leaking the “Moscovici draft” on Twitter

This article proposes a discourse-narrative approach to news making online as a networked practice of storying and sharing. This approach is illustrated in the examination of the release of a draft Eurogroup statement via journalist Paul Mason’s Facebook, Scribd and Twitter accounts on the 16th February 2015. The analysis draws on small story insights (Georgakopoulou, 2015) and the empirical framework of sharing (Androutsopoulos, 2014). It shows how the release of this leak event on Twitter is storied as a breaking news story unfolding moment-by-moment as it happens, at the same time as making up an incipient record of the event as it happened. It is argued that breaking news (micro)stories are shared as moments of narrative stancetaking, featuring a concise, portable storyline and cumulative evaluation(s) that foreground the relevance of the leak for the ongoing discussions on the Greek bailout negotiations as well as the continued importance of the journalist as the mediator of the leak. In this case of sharing a leaked document with networked participants, narrativity is drawn upon as a key resource for producing and circulating alternative stances on the Greek crisis, creating a range of networked participation positions. This article contributes to the study of news sharing online and digital storytelling based on the qualitative analysis of ‘small’ data

Political Magazines on Twitter during Election 2012: Framing, Uniting, Dividing

This study offers a content analysis of Twitter activity from 16 American political opinion magazines during the month before the 2012 presidential election. The study is an exploratory attempt to operationalize aspects of tweets that may contribute to frame alignment processes and mobilization among Twitter users. The analysis identifies these components and examines how political magazines’ Twitter activity may demonstrate aspects of this process. These magazines must consider both the normative goal of achieving specific political gains by mobilizing readers and the pragmatic goal of remaining sustainable as publishing enterprises. The degree to which their Twitter usage reflects frame alignment processes may not only reinforce political mobilization, but also affect the longevity of their publications. This analysis offers practical and theoretical insights into the changing role of political magazines in an increasingly digital era of political engagement

Public Diplomacy and Foreign Policy Analysis in the 21st Century: Navigating Uncertainty through Digital Power and Influence

In an era defined by digital networks and geopolitical risk, public diplomacy is gaining traction for global leaders to address uncertainty. This paper investigates the use of decentralized politics in public discourse and its implications for leadership. Individual global actors have increased public diplomatic efforts as a focus due to political uncertainty, particularly since 2016. The case of Ukraine and its President Ukraine\u27s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy\u27s use of digital and public diplomacy in the conflict with Russia emphasizes the importance of looking at individual actor impacts in international relations rather than just states. The study should concentrate on how digital tools, such as social media, shape public opinion and influence global events. Digital media is regarded as a potent conduit for political power and influence. The purpose of this essay is to encourage further investigation into this rapidly evolving field

Uncovering Gender Bias within Journalist-Politician Interaction in Indian Twitter

Gender bias in political discourse is a significant problem on today's social media. Previous studies found that the gender of politicians indeed influences the content directed towards them by the general public. However, these works are particularly focused on the global north, which represents individualistic culture. Furthermore, they did not address whether there is gender bias even within the interaction between popular journalists and politicians in the global south. These understudied journalist-politician interactions are important (more so in collectivistic cultures like the global south) as they can significantly affect public sentiment and help set gender-biased social norms. In this work, using large-scale data from Indian Twitter we address this research gap. We curated a gender-balanced set of 100 most-followed Indian journalists on Twitter and 100 most-followed politicians. Then we collected 21,188 unique tweets posted by these journalists that mentioned these politicians. Our analysis revealed that there is a significant gender bias -- the frequency with which journalists mention male politicians vs. how frequently they mention female politicians is statistically significantly different ($p<<0.05$). In fact, median tweets from female journalists mentioning female politicians received ten times fewer likes than median tweets from female journalists mentioning male politicians. However, when we analyzed tweet content, our emotion score analysis and topic modeling analysis did not reveal any significant gender-based difference within the journalists' tweets towards politicians. Finally, we found a potential reason for the significant gender bias: the number of popular male Indian politicians is almost twice as large as the number of popular female Indian politicians, which might have resulted in the observed bias. We conclude by discussing the implications of this work