NEW MEDIA : Democracy and Elections BY Dr. Sandeep Kumar Dr Akhilesh Kumar RUDRA RUDRA PUBLISHERS & DISTRIBUTORS NEW DELHI -110094 (INDIA) New Media : Democracy and Elections Disclaimer: !e authors and writers are solely responsible for the chapters compiled in this book. !e publisher, printer and editor do not take any re- sponsibility for the same in any manner. © Author First Published 2019 ISBN: - 978-93-88361-10-1 [No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher]. Published in India by RUDRA PUBLISHERS & DISTRIBUTORS C-293A, Street No. 3, West Karawal Nagar, New Delhi - 110094 Cell : 9312442975 E-mail : [email protected] !$VJR:' .`Q%$.'-11V`7'!'2 %R7'Q`'567;9' : H1:C'-1VV 9 *Dr. Amit Sharma **Ms. Aayushi Goyal Abstract !"#$%&#&'%(!$)')&%$"#$'*$'++&,)+$+-$'*'./0&$+!&$123R#$ official Twitter.It covers the objective and agenda of tweets in political communication.Tweets can be used to persuade or inform the public.Content analysis method has been applied for data collection.The resultindicates that Twitter is used to persuade followersand inform them about the )-."+"('.$&5&*+$'*6$!'))"*78$123R#$-99"("'.$ :"++&%$"#$7"5"*7$ more importance to the political issue. The objectives of the tweets have been changed on the basis of the main actors. Tweets in which opposition leader is the main actor have a clear objective of backbiting. On the other hand, tweet in which Prime Minister is presented as the main actor has the objective of image building/shaping political opinion. Key words: Twitter, Political Communication, Political issue, Objective and Agenda in Tweets * Assistant Professor, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, JECRC University, Jaipur. ** Student, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, JECRC University, Jaipur. New Media : Democracy and Elections 61 >?-@:AC->:?7' 8'-11V`6':']Q1V``%C'CQII%J1H:QJ' QQC Twitter is a news or social networking platform.It is used to share a fact, information, idea or thought that is known as a tweet. Earlier, the tweet was restricted 140 character, which is now 280in most language including Indian too. Only registered users are able to tweet and can see. Registration is possible through the website or mobile app. Twitter was founded in 2006. Mr Jack Dorsey, Note Glass, Evan Williams, and Big Stone were the key player for the launching of twitter. Oxford Dictionary defines tweet as Q'$)-#+$-*$+!&$#-("'.$,&6"'$'))."('+"-*<#"+&$ :"++&%R8$=%>'*$ Dictionary explains tweet as a post on Twitter. Wiktionary, orgposited the tweet as an entry posted on the microblogging service i.e. Twitter. Twitter is a powerful communication tool. Its power enhances through instance messaging service. Anyone canimagine the popularity twitter with the facts below. In 2012, 100 million users are using Twitter globally. They twitted average 340 million tweets per day. In 2013, Twitter awarded as a most visited website. Now, Twitter becomes a major tool of information, agenda setting, and propagation of political ideas. During the 2016 American election campaign, Twitter circulates the highest news related to politics. According to Eastern Times report, about 40 million elections related tweet sent by people on American pool day. It was a record for news and twitter history. If we took a sight on Indiangeneral election 2014, social media played a very strong role in public opinion making and changing their voting behaviour. 8'7QC1H:C'CQII%J1H:QJ':JR'2QH1:C'KVR1: Political communication refers toinformation spreads to others that can influence politics and policy makers along with mass media and citizens.Generally, information 6"##&,"*'+&#$-5&%$,'##$,&6"?,8$1.?,.&%@$28$A8@$B$C'5'*'7!@$ D. (1999) posited that mass media can persuade society and can shape political communication in the democratic 62 New Media : Democracy and Elections #/#+&,8$ D*."@$ A8$ E8@$ B$ EF-7&%>-@$ D8$ GHIJKL$ &M).'"*&6$ +!'+$ socialmedia generally focuses on an individual politician. They try to convince the public by focusing on issues related to their interest. They use social media for personalized campaigning. They use social media to communicate their personal image as a politician. On the other hand, social media is not widely used for party promotion. Opinion maker and opinion leaders also use social media for dissemination of their ideology and perception on certain issues. Gokce,O. Z., Hatipoglu, E., Gokturk, G., Luetgert, 18@$B$E'/7"*@$N8$GHIJOL$)-#"+&6$+!'+$#-("'.$,&6"'$('*$#!')&$ political attitude. This online platform provides space for political socialization and mobilization. Mostly, politicians use social media for making his presence online. Opinion leader uses Twitter to motivate their followers and political engagement. This microblogging service is used to mobilization and public expression. Opinion leader uses Twitter to make an important contribution to the political process. Wilson, J. (2011) posited that politics is mediatised by social media. Twitter is medium which is used to informed about daily activity. Ott, B. L. (2017) explain that social media like Twitter is a place where public discourse occurs. The researcher demonstrated this with the case study of P-*'.6$ %?,)R#$ :"++&%$9&&68$ 8'@V01V1'Q`'C1 V`: %`V' The part contains the review of the existing literature available on the Twitter and political communication. The studies have been presented in chronological order so that the oldest studies are presented first followed >/$ +!&$ .'+&#+8$ Q*$ +!&$ #+?6/$ QR!'+$ +!&$ !'#!+'7S$T$ (-*+&*+$ '*'./#"#$-9$U'*'6"'*$)-."+"(#$-*$ :"++&%R@$E,'..@$ 8$T8$GHIJJL$ examine the Twitter and its role in politics i.e. interaction of microblogging and Canadian politics. The researcherdid content analysis and find out that informing is the primary function of a political hashtag. They pointed out that the value of a political hashtag obtains from the real-time nature of the information shared. Q*$+!&$#+?6/$QV'+"-*'.$)-."+"(#$-*$ New Media : Democracy and Elections 63 :"++&%W$E+%?(+?%&#$'*6$+-)"(#$-9$'$*&+:-%F&6$)?>."($#)!&%&R@$ T?##&%!-9&%@$ 28@$ B$ X'"%&6&%@$ T8$ GHIJKL$ &M',"*&$ :"++&%$ and its effect on political issues. Researchers did a content analysis to meet the result. They find out that the Twitter users are dominated by the high class political professionals but open to outside participations. Q*$ +!&$ #+?6/$ Q3&%#-*'."0&6$ (',)'"7*#$ "*$ )'%+/Y(&*+%&6$ )-."+"(#W$ :"++&%$ '*6$ Z'(&>--F$ '#$ '%&*'#$ 9-%$ )-."+"('.$ (-,,?*"('+"-*R@$D*."@$A8$E8@$B$EF-7&%>-@$D8$GHIJKL$&M',"*&6$ the role of social media in political communication. Researchers find out that politician uses social media for their marketing purpose. Mainly, Facebook is used for marketing purpose, but Twitter is mostly used for dialogue. Q*$+!&$#+?6/$QP-&#$ :"++&%$,-+"5'+&$"*5-.5&,&*+$"*$)-."+"(#S$ :&&+"*7@$ -)"*"-*$ .&'6&%#!")@$ '*6$ )-."+"('.$ &*7'7&,&*+R@$ Park, C. S. (2013) examine the relationship between opinion leaders and Twitter. The result indicates that opinion leadership use Twitter for the favourable contribution in "*6"5"6?'.#R$"*5-.5&,&*+$"*$+!&$)-."+"('.$(-,,?*"('+"-*8$$ Q*$'$%&#&'%(!$:-%F$Q :"++&%$"*$)-."+"(#W$'(-,)%&!&*#"5&$ ."+&%'+?%&$ %&5"&:R@$ 2?*7!&%%@$T8$ GHIJOL$ '*'./#&$ +!&$ Q*6"'*$ general election 2014. Researcher finds that social media platform played a very powerful role in mass opinion making and changing their voting attitude or behaviour. Study unveils that twitter posts are used in thea politic alevents like debates on television, party conventions, and (-5&%'7&$ 6?%"*7$ +!&$ &.&(+"-*8$ Q*$ +!&$ #+?6/$ Q :"++&%$ '*6$ 3-."+"(#W$Q6&*+"9/"*7$ ?%F"#!$[)"*"-*$\&'6&%#$"*$V&:$E-("'.$ X&6"'R@$A-F(&@$[8$]8@$^'+")-7.?@$D8@$A-F+?%F@$A8@$\?&+7&%+@$ 18@$B$E'/7"*@$N8$GHIJOL$'*'./0&$!-:$#-("'.$,&6"'$('*$#!')&$ political attitude. The result indicate that most of the opinion leaders are not following the conventional expectations. But they employed many kinds of strategies for managing their online presence, and dissemination of their ideas. Q*$+!&$#+?6/$Q3-."+"(#$"*$JOI$(!'%'(+&%#$-%$.&##W$U',)'"7*$ communication, network interaction, and political )'%+"(")'+"-*$ -*$ :"++&%R@$ 1-6&@$ \8@$ B$ P'.%/,).&@$ C8$ D8$ GHIJ_L$6-*&$#?%5&/$+-$9"*6$-?+$+!&$?#&%R#$>&!'5"-%$'*6$+!&"%$ 64 New Media : Democracy and Elections involvement. They find out that politically involved Twitter users are more interested in politics. They have less trust in comparison to mainstream media. Although twitter followers can change and reshape the whole political campaign. In the #+?6/Q$E&"0"*7$+!&$,-,&*+W$ !&$)%&#"6&*+"'.$(',)'"7*#R$?#&$ -9$ :"++&%$6?%"*7$+!&$HIJH$&.&(+-%'.$(/(.&R@$C%&"##@$P8$GHIJ_L$ did a content analysis to know the Tweet and its treatment in media. Researcher finds out that political campaign can influence the journalists, and the whole reporting process %?*#$'#$)&%$+!&$)-."+"("'*R#$#+%'+&7/8$ 8'@O2O!@CP'KO-P:A:Q:R7' This part contains objectives, hypothesis, and research design. 8':56OC->O2':U'-PO'2-A7' The objectives of the research are given below. RO1: To know the main issues raised in tweets. RO2: To know the importance of tweets. RO3: To know the involvement of the main political actor in tweets. RO4: To know the objective of tweets. RO5: To measure the agenda of tweets. 3.2 Hypothesis of the Study: The hypothesis of the researchis given below. There is an association between the main actor and the objectives of tweets. 8'@O2O!@CP'AO2>R?' The