1. Prof. Dr. Martin Emmer
Institut für Publizistik- und Kommunikationswissenschaft, Arbeitsstelle Mediennutzung
Why
Social
Media
Campaigns
Some4mes
Work
and
Some4mes
Fail
Social
Media
Week
Berlin
27.09.2012
Donnerstag, 27. September 12

2. Program
How
can
the
findings
from
social
science
contribute
to
the
art
of
campainging
(for
social,
politcal,
civil
goals)?
• Social
Science
• Social
Media
• Campaigning
-­‐
Strategic
Communica4on
Donnerstag, 27. September 12

3. I.
Some introductory remarks on what
social science tells us about human
communication
(... and which might be relevant for social media)
Donnerstag, 27. September 12

4. Basic findings:
Messages trying to motivate people to go
voting are more effective when forwarded
by people we know and trust
Donnerstag, 27. September 12

5. Lazarsfeld,
Paul
F./Berelson,
Bernhard/
(Paul F. Lazarsfeld) Gaudet,
Hazel
(1944):
The
People's
Choice.
How
the
Voter
Makes
Up
His
Mind
in
a
Presiden4al
Campaign.
New
York:
Duell,
Sloan
and
Pearce.
(c) Bardwell Press
Donnerstag, 27. September 12

6. Effects
of
mediated
campaign
communica4on:
•
Ac4va4on
•
Reinforcement
•
„Two-­‐step-­‐flow“
of
communica4on
but:
almost
no
persuasion
Donnerstag, 27. September 12

7. Kahneman,
Daniel
(2011):
Thinking,
Fast
and
Slow.
New
York:
Farrar,
Straus
and
Giroux.
Pedy,
Richard
E./Cacioppo,
John
T.
(1986):
Communica4on
and
Persuasion:
Central
and
Peripheral
Routes
to
Ahtude
Change.
New
York:
Springer.
Donnerstag, 27. September 12

8. Two
ways
of
processing
informa4on
and
making
up
one‘s
mind:
issue
requiring
decision
peripheral
path
(fast) central
path resources
(slow) (4me,
thought
etc.)
ephemeral
decision stable
decision
(e.g.
opinion) (e.g.
opinion)
Donnerstag, 27. September 12

9. Conclusion
I:
Social
Media‘s
advantages
for
campaigning:
...
they
give
access
to
personal
networks
of
people
and
their
credibility
...
opportuni4es
both
for
peripheral
&
central
paths
of
opinion
building
Donnerstag, 27. September 12

10. Conclusion
I
b:
The
individual
is
no
longer
just
part
of
a
„target
group“
but
a
relevant
player
Donnerstag, 27. September 12

11. Example
The
target-­‐group
vs.
player
problem:
http://www.shakesville.com/2012/09/mitt-romney-releases-tax-return.html
Donnerstag, 27. September 12

12. II.
Needs,
expecta4ons,
mo4ves
of
individuals
as
key
to
campaign
par4cipa4on
Donnerstag, 27. September 12

13. Why
do
people
communicate?
•
Ra4onal
reasons/individual
benefit
•
Social
needs:
surveillance,
integra4on,
iden4ty
building
•
Emo4onal
reasons:
relaxa4on,
entertainment,
fun
•
Habitualiza4on,
rituals
...
and
why
not?
•
Relevance
•
Costs:
money,
4me,
knowledge
•
Emo4ons:
fear
of
isola4on,
...
Donnerstag, 27. September 12

14. Example
Mo4va4ons
of
German
state
MPs
for
being
present
online
(2007)
Be Transparent 93
Comm. to Constituency 88
Positive Self-Presentation 82
Attract Young Voters 77
Agenda Setting 77
Support for Positions 75
Win Voters 72
Raise Voting Participation 70
Get Feedback 69
Win Campaigners 63
Media Relations 56
Sharpen Profile 48
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Donnerstag, 27. September 12

15. III.
Examples:
ACTA
Donnerstag, 27. September 12

16. Campaign-­‐Hub:
focused
on
resources,
how-­‐to‘s,
connec4ng
people
Donnerstag, 27. September 12

17. Combina4on
of:
•
Variety
of
modes
of
communica4on
•
Informa4on
&
entertainment
•
Variety
of
perspec4ves
and
arguments
Donnerstag, 27. September 12

18. Go
offline
(too)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/digitalegesellschaft/7354521426/
Donnerstag, 27. September 12

19. It‘s
not
all
digital
and
social:
•
„economy
of
aden4on“
-­‐
news
factors
•
„Issue“-­‐issues:
rejec4ve/protest
vs.
projec4ve/forma4ve
•
context
(framing)
and
environment
(issue-­‐compe44on)
Donnerstag, 27. September 12

20. IV.
Risks
&
Problems
Donnerstag, 27. September 12

21. Being
„unsocial“:
•
Trying
to
run
a
campaign
on
your
own
(companies,
lobby-­‐groups)
•
may
spur
opposi4on:
feeling
of
being
abused,
intransparency
•
strategy
to
keep
control
of
messages
Donnerstag, 27. September 12

22. Key
risks:
•
Losing
control
•
Not
knowing
what
your
goals
are
(likes
or
votes?)
•
Misuse
of
channels
(SWOT)
Donnerstag, 27. September 12

23. V.
Conclusions
&
Discussion
Donnerstag, 27. September 12

24. •
Think
about
the
needs
of
you
supporters
•
Integrate
their
skills,
knowledge,
mo4va4on,
contacts
into
your
campaign
•
Take
them
to
ac4on
•
Be
transparent
and
authen4c
Donnerstag, 27. September 12

25. mar4n.emmer@fu-­‐berlin.de
@mjemmer
hdp://www.mar4n-­‐emmer.net
Donnerstag, 27. September 12