67 research outputs found
Tactics and Tallies: A Study of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Campaign Using Twitter 'Likes'
We propose a framework to measure, evaluate, and rank campaign effectiveness
in the ongoing 2016 U.S. presidential election. Using Twitter data collected
from Sept. 2015 to Jan. 2016, we first uncover the tweeting tactics of the
candidates and second, using negative binomial regression and exploiting the
variations in 'likes,' we evaluate the effectiveness of these tactics. Thirdly,
we rank the candidates' campaign tactics by calculating the conditional
expectation of their generated 'likes.'
We show that while Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio put much weight on President
Obama, this tactic is not being well received by their supporters. We
demonstrate that Hillary Clinton's tactic of linking herself to President Obama
resonates well with her supporters but the same is not true for Bernie Sanders.
In addition, we show that Donald Trump is a major topic for all the other
candidates and that the women issue is equally emphasized in Sanders' campaign
as in Clinton's.
Finally, we suggest two ways that politicians can use the feedback mechanism
in social media to improve their campaign: (1) use feedback from social media
to improve campaign tactics within social media; (2) prototype policies and
test the public response from the social media.Comment: ICWSM 2017 - News and Public Opinion Worksho
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