Title
Social Media Analysis and Public Opinion: The 2010 UK General Election.
Abstract
Social media monitoring in politics can be understood by situating it in theories of public opinion. The multimethod study we present here indicates how social media monitoring allow for analysis of social dynamics through which opinions form and shift. Analysis of media coverage from the 2010 UK General Election demonstrates that social media are now being equated with public opinion by political journalists. We use interviews with pollsters, social media researchers and journalists to examine the perceived link between social media and public opinion. In light of competing understandings these interviews reveal, we argue for a broadening of the definition of public opinion to include its social dimension.
Year
DOI
Venue
2015
10.1111/jcc4.12102
JOURNAL OF COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION
Keywords
DocType
Volume
Elections,Grounded Theory,Public Opinion,Social Media,Twitter,United Kingdom
Journal
20
Issue
ISSN
Citations 
2
1083-6101
8
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.80
8
2
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Nick Anstead180.80
Ben O'Loughlin2162.04