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Article
Publication date: 17 January 2023

Tal Samuel-Azran and Moran Yarchi

The study aims to examine the validity of the gender affinity effect on social media throughout election campaigns.

Abstract

Purpose

The study aims to examine the validity of the gender affinity effect on social media throughout election campaigns.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper examines the role of gender in political discourse, using citizens' conversations on Facebook in the days leading up to Israel's 2021 elections as its case study. The analysis measured the engagement generated by male and female politicians in citizens' publicly open Facebook discussions (N = 1875) using a trend-tracking software. The analysis uses t-tests to examine differences in engagement between conversations about male versus female politicians and between posts written by male versus female authors. In addition, a two-way ANOVA analysis was conducted in an attempt to understand the shared impact of both the politicians' gender and posts authors' gender on the posts' engagement.

Findings

The study reveals that although more posts discuss male politicians, posts dealing with female politicians expressed significantly more support towards those politicians. The analysis also highlights that women tend to write more supportive posts and that most of their posts deal with female politicians. Furthermore, interaction effect analysis revealed that women's posts about female politicians generate more engagement in terms of likes, comments and number of participants than posts written by women that deal with male politicians.

Practical implications

The findings should encourage women politicians to run their campaigns via social media.

Originality/value

The study presents the first social media analysis for gender affinity effect and highlights the importance of the effect in online political communication studies.

Peer review

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-04-2022-0199

Details

Online Information Review, vol. 47 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1468-4527

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 24 October 2003

Anne Krogstad and Kirsten Gomard

Political communication is not first and foremost about truth; it is a struggle for power and influence between different interests. In this struggle, it is critical for…

Abstract

Political communication is not first and foremost about truth; it is a struggle for power and influence between different interests. In this struggle, it is critical for politicians to persuade voters, and not just by the power of their argument, but also, and increasingly, through creating trust by means of their personality. In this study we will focus on how politicians attend to these concerns in televised election campaign debates in the Nordic countries. Ideally, political debates provide politicians with equal opportunities for airing their positions. This linguistic ideal of fairness has more elaborate equivalents in established theories of discourse, such as the theory of the ideal speech situation proposed by Habermas (1975a, b), Paul Grice’s maxims for efficient and logical communication (Grice, 1975), and the face-saving traffic rules of social interaction analyzed by Goffman (1967). However, this rudimentary standard of fairness is rarely satisfied in practice (Gastil, 1992). Rather than granting all participants equality, debates often become events in which prior inequalities, such as gender, age, class and status, are re-enacted (Edelsky & Adams, 1990). The question we are pursuing in this article is whether and how such “brought along” features are made relevant, or “brought about” in actual debate situations.

Details

Comparative Studies of Culture and Power
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-76230-885-9

Article
Publication date: 18 February 2019

Dana Markowitz-Elfassi, Moran Yarchi and Tal Samuel-Azran

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of politicians’ facial attractiveness on their online popularity as reflected in audience engagement with their Facebook posts…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of politicians’ facial attractiveness on their online popularity as reflected in audience engagement with their Facebook posts during the 2015 Israeli election campaign.

Design/methodology/approach

Using Israel’s 2015 election campaign as the case study, the authors analyzed all messages posted (n=501) on 33 politicians’ official Facebook pages during the week leading to Election Day.

Findings

The results demonstrate that audiences do engage more with posts of the more facially attractive politicians. These posts generated more shares, more comments and more participants in their discussions – but not more likes – relative to posts of less attractive politicians. These effects became even stronger when the posts were accompanied by one or more visual image, and remained significant even after controlling for other engagement predictors, such as a politician’s gender, seniority or the timing of a post’s publication.

Social implications

The findings emphasize the importance of attractive looks for politicians. The findings highlight that attractive politicians’ posts attract more attention, allowing them to better spread their ideas. Thus, politicians should aim to post aesthetic images and visuals to promote better engagement with their ideas on social media.

Originality/value

The study expands our understanding of online presentations of politicians, focusing on the effect of politicians’ facial attractiveness on their online popularity. Recent studies have demonstrated that physically attractive politicians enjoy more and better media attention on television news, but not in non-visual media such as radio and newspapers. This effect has not been examined in the social media environment, a central arena for today’s political debates and one that involves many visual messages.

Details

Online Information Review, vol. 43 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1468-4527

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 11 December 2006

Jean-Pascal Daloz

All sorts of distinctions can be made concerning prestige goods: for instance, between the most durable like precious stones passed down from generation to generation and the…

Abstract

All sorts of distinctions can be made concerning prestige goods: for instance, between the most durable like precious stones passed down from generation to generation and the ephemeral ones, or between those which seem to exert a universal fascination, like gold and others valued only in some places. The question of borrowings and possible syncretism is also most appealing for the comparatist and countless illustrations could be given here. In many cases, prestigious goods must be studied by taking both their symbolic and practical value into consideration. What I mean is that a ‘Veblenesque’ approach only paying attention to them as status symbols tends to underestimate their functional dimension. For example, limousines or jets must certainly be analyzed in terms of attributes of power and status enhancement. However, one cannot deny that they also have concrete functions of ‘comfortableness’ and rapidity for ubiquitous elites bound to do extensive traveling. Normally, in modern democracies, top political actors inherit or acquire all kinds of prestigious public assets, but these must be returned at the end of their mandate. Even presents officially given to them are supposed to be surrendered to a public museum. The famous affair of Emperor Bokassa's diamonds offered to Valéry Giscard d’Estaing no doubt discredited the French President and contributed to his defeat in the 1981 elections.

Details

Comparative Studies of Social and Political Elites
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-466-9

Article
Publication date: 12 September 2016

Shelley Boulianne

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the themes identified in the submissions to this volume. The findings are contextualized in recent scholarship on these themes.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the themes identified in the submissions to this volume. The findings are contextualized in recent scholarship on these themes.

Design/methodology/approach

The discussion is organized around predicting social media use among candidates, organizations, and citizens, then exploring differences in the content of social media postings among candidates, organizations, and citizens, and finally exploring the impact of social media use on mobilization and participatory inequality defined by gender, age, and socio-economic status.

Findings

This volume addresses whether social media use is more common among liberal or conservative citizens, candidates, and organizations; the level of negativity in social media discourse and the impact on attitudes; the existence of echo chambers of like-minded individuals and groups; the extent and nature of interactivity in social media; and whether social media will reinforce participation inequalities. In sum, the studies suggest that negativity and interactivity on social media are limited and mixed support for echo chambers. While social media mobilizes citizens, these citizens are those who already pre-disposed to engage in civic and political life.

Originality/value

This paper explores key topics in social media research drawing upon 60 recently published studies. Most of the studies are published in 2015 and 2016, providing a contemporary analysis of these topics.

Details

Online Information Review, vol. 40 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1468-4527

Keywords

Abstract

Details

International Perspectives on Gender and Higher Education
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83909-886-4

Book part
Publication date: 12 September 2017

Nasibeh Hedayati, Elina Kuusisto, Khalil Gholami and Kirsi Tirri

This chapter studies how in Iranian schools the power of resistance is evident in female students’ moral dilemmas. The Islamic Revolution of Iran was a turning point in Iranian…

Abstract

This chapter studies how in Iranian schools the power of resistance is evident in female students’ moral dilemmas. The Islamic Revolution of Iran was a turning point in Iranian educational system in which the role of religion and the desire for Islamization of all aspects of the society was emphasized. The data was gathered from one girl and one boy school in Tehran in 2016, and it includes lower secondary school students’ essays (Female n=175, Male n=165) about moral dilemmas. The study reveals the impact of Islamic values in school life and that the power of resistance is weak since students cannot criticize Islamic values. However, female students’ moral dilemmas indicate aspects of resistance in terms of questioning the schools rules that are based on these religious values and principles. This chapter examines female cases in detail to discuss how issues related to gender and religion are interconnected in Iranian schools.

Details

The Power of Resistance
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78350-462-6

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 June 2012

Regine Bendl and Angelika Schmidt

In this paper the authors aim to examine the forms in which feminist activism is played out at contemporary managerial universities and pose the following question: what notions…

1024

Abstract

Purpose

In this paper the authors aim to examine the forms in which feminist activism is played out at contemporary managerial universities and pose the following question: what notions of feminist activism and feminist theory have to be revisited in order to sustain the target of gender equality and support its move further into the centre and the mainstream of managerial universities?

Design/methodology/approach

Based on action research the authors document a workshop which they organised for different constituencies (administrators, researchers and feminist activists) working towards gender equality at an Austrian university and discuss its results in the context of feminist theory.

Findings

The five voices collected at the workshop show that feminist theories are still the underlying guiding principles for feminist activism towards gender equality at managerial universities. As this is the first time that different generations of feminist activists have been present at managerial universities and are working in a top‐down environment supported by administrators responsible for gender equality, common practices that have been successful to implement gender equality in the past have to be refined and new spaces for collaboration established.

Originality/value

This is the first paper that explores the multiple voices amongst those engaged in the process of transformation towards gender equality at contemporary managerial universities. It shows that an open discussion of complementary and conflicting ways in which the representatives can construct their selves, their strategies and their actions is required in order to start “managing the management” anew – from a higher level than the feminist grassroots activists in the 1980s and 1990s.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 31 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 10 December 2012

Sheri Kunovich and Amanda Wall

We examine the extent to which female politicians highlight their status as women by identifying with women as a group and using female roles and experiences to describe…

Abstract

We examine the extent to which female politicians highlight their status as women by identifying with women as a group and using female roles and experiences to describe themselves. Based on a qualitative content analysis of female members’ congressional web pages, we find that sex-group identification and gender roles are selectively used in discussions of their personal lives, their paths to Congress, and their experiences within Congress. Variation among the female politicians suggests they are responding to a range of normative gender beliefs among the electorate. There is also evidence that some of the women use online forms of communication to change the discourse about women in politics.

Details

Linking Environment, Democracy and Gender
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-337-7

Article
Publication date: 27 July 2020

Tal Samuel-Azran and Moran Yarchi

This study examines the impact of gender on Facebook campaign strategies and the reception of these strategies during the 2018 Israeli municipal elections.

Abstract

Purpose

This study examines the impact of gender on Facebook campaign strategies and the reception of these strategies during the 2018 Israeli municipal elections.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors analyzed all the messages posted on 48 politicians' official Facebook pages during the week leading up to the elections. They analyzed messages posted by 152 candidates running for the position of head of a municipality, 68 of whom were women (48 had an active Facebook account), examining the amount of engagement they had created. The authors also analyzed the candidates' use of rhetoric and use of negative campaigning and the engagement it created.

Findings

Analysis of the overall engagement of Facebook users in respect to men versus women politicians showed that men politicians' posts were significantly more engaging in terms of the number of likes and shares they generated, although the multilevel analysis found no significant differences between engagement in the posts of men and women politicians. The Aristotelian rhetoric analysis revealed no significant differences between women and men contenders; however, in line with the role incongruity theory, the engagement analysis found that male candidates' logic-based posts attracted significantly more shares. The negative campaigning analysis found that, contrary to the study’s hypothesis, female candidates posted twice as many messages, attacking their opponents as their men counterparts. However, in line with the hypothesis based on the role incongruity theory, these posts gained significantly less engagement than those of their men counterparts.

Originality/value

The study highlights that female candidates do not conform to their perceived gender role as soft, emotional, and gentle in their social media campaigning. However, in line with role incongruity theory, they were not rewarded for this “unwomanly” behavior because they gained significantly less engagement with their logic-based posts and their attacks against other candidates than their men counterparts. Despite the fact that prior studies have indicated the potential of social networks service (SNS) to empower women leaders, the findings of the study highlight the continued gender discrimination and the validity of role incongruity theory during social media campaigning, particularly at the municipal elections level.

Details

Online Information Review, vol. 44 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1468-4527

Keywords

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