Edinburgh Research Explorer

The social media balancing act

Citation for published version:Colliander, J, Marder, B, Falkman, LL, Madestam, J, Modig, E & Sagfossen, S 2017, 'The social mediabalancing act: Testing the use of a balanced self-presentation strategy for politicians using Twitter',Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 74, pp. 277- 285. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.04.042

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):10.1016/j.chb.2017.04.042

Link:Link to publication record in Edinburgh Research Explorer

Document Version:Peer reviewed version

Published In:Computers in Human Behavior

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Download date: 14. Sep. 2020

TheSocialMediaBalancingAct:TestingtheUseofaBalanced

Self-PresentationStrategyforPoliticiansUsingTwitter

Abstract

Politicians’clearseparationbetweentheirprofessionalandprivateliveshas

beenchallengedbyagrowingneedtobeseenaspersonable,especiallyonsocial

mediawherethisisthenorm.Little,however,isknownabouttheeffectona

politicalpartywhenitspoliticiansrevealaspectsoftheirprivatelivesonsocial

media.Thepresentstudyaddressesthisquestion.Throughthelensofself-

presentationtheory,wearethefirsttotesttheeffectofabalancedpresentation

strategyonTwitter(i.e.,tweetsthatinvolvebothprofessionalandprivate

aspectsoftheirlives)asopposedtoastrictlyprofessionalone.Alongitudinal

designwasadoptedwith265Twitterusersasparticipants.Theresultsshowed

thatabalancedstrategyincreasedbothinterestinthepolitician’spartyand

intentiontovoteforthatparty,irrespectiveofauser’spoliticalinterest,social

mediausageintensity,orage,orthegenderofeithertheuserorthe

communicatingpolitician.Furthermore,likingthetweetsemergedasacrucial

mediator.Thisstudycontributesvaluableknowledgeonself-presentation

strategiesofpoliticiansspecifically,andmorebroadlyregardingself-

presentationinthefaceofcontextcollapse.Howeverwecallforfutureresearch

tovalidateourexperimentalfindingsinareal-lifesetting.Implicationsare

providedforpoliticalpartiesandothers.

Introduction

Socialmediatechnologies,especiallyTwitter,haverevolutionizedmodern

politics,rapidlydrawingtheattentionofacademics(Baek,2015;Coffey,Kohler,

&Granger,2015;Wasike,2017;Yu,2016).Twitterisusedbypartisansacross

thepoliticalspectrumtoperformpostmortemsafterteleviseddebates(Heller,

2016),fromwhichanalystsgaugetheoverallsentimentoftheelectorate

(Tumasjan,Sprenger,Sandner,&Welpe.,2010).Politicianstweettogarner

supportfrompotentialvotersandtoengagewiththeirrivals(Graham,Jackson,

&Broersma,2016).However,whatpoliticianstweetcanbesubjecttoheavy

scrutiny.Forexample,Fortunemagazinereportedthatinthemonthspriorto

the2016presidentialelection,DonaldTrumphadfound“someonenewtoinsult

onTwitterevery42hours”(Shen,2016).Aspoliticalpartiesbegintoprepare

socialmediaguidancedocumentsfortheirpoliticians(Mason,2015),acrucial

questionemerges:howshouldtheirpoliticianspresentthemselvesthroughsuch

technologies?

Ontraditionalmedia,politicianspresentedstrictlytheirprofessionalpersona

withraredeviation.However,onsocialmedia,politiciansarestartingtopresent

aspectsoftheirpersonallives(Kruikemeier,2014).Politiciansarenowfaced

withaself-presentationaltug-of-warbetweentheirneedtomaintaina

professionalpersona,ononehand,andontheotherhandagrowingpressureto

displaytheirprivatepersonaasameanstoincreaseintimacywiththeir

electorate(Holtz-Bacha,2004;vanAelstetal.,2011;vanZoonen,2000).Social

mediaplaceheavypressureonpoliticianstorevealaspectsoftheirlives,asitisa

crucialemergingtechnologyforpoliticalmessages(Marder,Slade,Houghtonand

Archer-Brown,2016a)andanarenawherethenormofcommunicationis

personal,“lightweight”(Zhao&Rosson,2009,p.243)and“phatic”(Miller,2008,

p.387).Furthermore,Twitterlikeotherformsofsocialmediaischaracterizedby

contextcollapse,meaningthatmultiplecontexts(e.g.,workandhome)are

intermeshedintooneself-presentationarena,thus“bringingtogethercommonly

distinctaudiences”(Marwick&Boyd,2011,p.115).Thusfar,however,onlytwo

studieshaveexaminedtheefficacyofpoliticians’professionalversusprivate

communicationsonsocialmedia.LeeandOh,(2012)foundthatforpoliticians

revealingaspectsofone’sprivatelifeonsocialmediahadambiguouseffectson

theviewer’sintentiontovoteduetoconfoundingvariables.Kruikemeier,(2014),

reportthefindingthat“surprisingly”privatelifedisclosureshavenoimpacton

intentiontovote(p.135).Althoughthesestudiesprovidedusefulinitialinsights

theirresultsareinconclusive.Theauthorsofbothpaperscallforfurther

researchtoexaminetheimpactofpoliticians’professionalversusprivate

disclosuresonsocialmedia.Ouraimistoaddressthisgap.

Tocontributetounderstandinginthisarea,weadoptself-presentationasour

theoreticallens,consistentwithotherresearchinthefield(Bareket-Bojmel,

Moran,&Shahar,2016;Baumgartneretal.,2015;Marder,Joinson,Shankarand

Thirlaway2016b).Inparticular,wedrawfromGoffman’s(1978)distinction

betweenfront-stage(professional)andback-stage(private)presentation.

Furthermore,webuilduponMarwickandBoyd’s(2011)seminalqualitative

explorationofTwittermicro-celebrities(i.e.,peoplewith100,000ormore

followers).Inthisstudy,MarwickandBoydfoundevidenceofself-presentational

“balancing”inthepresenceofcontextcollapse(p.124).Suchbalancingoccurs

whenuserswithalargeanddiversebaseoffollowersstrategicallyinclude

aspectsofboththeirprofessionalandprivatepersonasintheirtweets.Although

thisstrategyhasbeenwellacknowledgedandwidelycited(seePapacharissi,

2012;Vitaketal.,2015),itseffectshavenotbeenempiricallytested.Wethus

aimtocontributetoknowledgeonhowpoliticiansshouldpresentthemselves

throughsocialmediaand,morebroadly,toself-presentationinthepresenceof

contextcollapse.Toachievethispurpose,weemployalongitudinalexperiment

totesttheeffectofbalancingfront-stageandback-stagepresentation,as

comparedtostrictlyprofessionalcommunicationcontent,ontwodesired

outcomesforthepolitician’sparty(interestinthepoliticalpartyandintentionto

votefortheparty).

Background

Self-Presentation

ErvingGoffmanfirstintroducedthetheoryofself-presentationinhisseminal

bookThePresentationoftheSelfinEverydayLife(1978).Fromtheperspectiveof

symbolicinteractionism,Goffmandiscussedhowpeoplepresentthemselvesto

othersthroughadramaturgicalmetaphor.Peopleareactorsonastage,drivento

instilladesiredimpressionintheaudiencemembers’minds.Onstage,actors

utilizebothverbalandnonverbalcues,adaptingwhattheysay,theirtoneof

voice,whomtheystandwith,andwhattheyweartoachievethepreferred

impression(Goffman,1978).Self-presentationisnowwidelystudiedinsocial

psychology.Leary(1996)distinguishedthreeunderlyingmotivationsfor

managingourself-presentation,whichneednotbemutuallyexclusive:economic

orsocialgains,self-esteem,andidentitymaintenance.

Goffmandistinguishedbetweenfront-stageandback-stagebehavior.Front-

stagebehaviorcanbeconsideredamorepublicperformanceinwhichtheactor’s

publicimageisondisplay,tightlyconstrainedbynormsandconventions.

However,thesefront-stage“publicrule-dictatedimagesareoftencontradicted”

whenanactorretreatsback-stage(Leary,1996,p.87),outoftheaudience’s

view,perhapsaloneorsurroundedonlybyfellowactors.Whileback-stage,

actorsdonothavetoworryabouttheconstraintsofpublicexpectation,sothey

mayusesubstandardlanguage,swear,ormakesexualremarks(Goffman,1978;

Turner&Edgley,1990).Cahilletal.(1985)foundthatteamsofvarioussorts

utilizetheback-stageregiontostrategizeabouttheircollectivefront-stage

performance.Politiciansstrategizeprivatelyinsecludedroomsbeforetakingthe

standatapressconference(Fennema,1997;Wodak,2014).Goffman(1978,

chap.3)describedthisas“regionsbehavior,”inwhichpeoplebehavedifferently

dependingonwhatregion(orstagearea)theyarein.

Traditionalpoliticianshavedefendedthedemarcationbetweenfront-stageand

back-stageperformance,whetherthelattercategoryreferstointra-party

discussionsortheirownprivatelives(Kuhn,2004).However,inrecentyears,

studieshavefoundagreaterneedforcandidatestoengageinpersonalization

duringcampaigns,suchasbyrevealingaspectsoftheirprivatelives(Druckman,

2003;Kleinnijenhuis,Maurer,Kepplinger,&Oegema,2001;Kruikemeieretal.,

2013).Aspoliticianspresentthemselvesthroughsocialmedia,thisformof

communicationchallengestheseparationbetweenthebackandfrontstages,as

suchtechnologiesareknowntocollapsecontexts.

Self-PresentationinthePresenceofContextCollapseOnTwitter,aswithotherformsofsocialmedia,peopleself-presenttoa

“networkedaudience”that“consistsofrealandpotentialviewersfordigital

contentthatexistwithinalargersocialgraph”(Marwick&Boyd,2011,p.129).

Suchnetworkedaudienceswillcontainsubsetsofdifferentaudiences.For

politicians,theseincludegeneralsupporters,supportersoftheopposition,

colleagues,friends,andfamily.Suchaudiencesubsetshavebeenfoundto

problematizeanindividual’sonlineself-presentation,astheseaudienceshold

differentandsometimesconflictingexpectationsregardingwhattheydeema

desirableimageprojection(Marderetal,2012).Thissituationisreferredtoas

contextcollapse(Marwick&Boyd,2011),conflictingsocialspheres(Binderet

al.,2009)ortheonlinemultipleaudienceproblem(Marderetal.,2012).

MarwickandBoyd(2011)carriedoutaqualitativeinquiryintothestrategies

adoptedbymicro-celebrities(i.e.,peoplewith100,000ormorefollowers)who

werefacedwiththeissueofcontextcollapsewhenusingTwitter.Micro-

celebritiescommunicateonsocialmediatopromotethemselvesandheighten

theirpopularity(Senft,2008,p.25).Politiciansaresimilartomicro-celebrities

inthattheyalsowishtoincreasetheirownpopularityandthatoftheirparties.

MarwickandBoyd(2011,p.126)describedtwocorestrategiesformicro-

celebrities:self-censorshipandbalancing.Self-censorshipmeansthatthe

individualcensorsthecontentconsideredfortweetingsothatitissuitableforall

imaginedaudiences;thatis,theirself-presentationtakesona“lowestcommon

denominator”aspect,conformingtoeventhestricteststandardsmakingit

suitableforeventhemoststrictstandards(p.126).Marderetal.(2016)found,

however,thataudiencestandardsarenottheonlyfactormotivatingself-

censorship;itisalsoafunctionoftheaudience’svalueanditsabilitytoprovide

economicorsocialgainsandlossesforthecommunicator.

InMarwickandBoyd’s(2011)secondstrategy,individualsbalancetheir

presentationoffront-stageandback-stageaspectsintheirtweets,duetotheir

recognitionofthedifferingpreferencesoftheiraudiencemembers.Marwickand

Boydindicatedthatthisbalancingcouldoccurwithinasingletweetorby

alternatingbetweentweets.Thequestionoftheeffectivenessofthisbalancing

strategyhasbeenlargelyneglectedintheresearchliterature.Existingstudies

havegenerallyaddressedsocialmediapostsbyusersaseitherbeingprivateor

professionalratherthanhybrid(vanZoonen,Verhoeven,&Vliegenthart,2016).

However,KimandSong(2016),whoconductedacross-sectionalsurveyof

undergraduateswhofollowedcelebritiesonTwitter,foundthatthosecelebrities

whosharedaspectsoftheirpersonallifehadimprovedsocialpresenceandthus

betterperceivedconnectivitywithfans.Thepresentresearchwillfurther

examinethebalancingstrategyinthecontextofpoliticiansusingTwitter.

Self-PresentationofPoliticiansonTwitter

Twitterisnowacrucialtechnologyforpoliticalpartiesandtheirpoliticiansto

communicatewithelectorates(Park,2013;Yu,2016).Engagingpeopleon

Twitterhasbeenassociatedwithincreasedsupportforcandidates(Kruikemeier,

2014;Lee&Shin,2012;Parmelee&Bichard,2011).However,littleisknown

abouttheimpactofwhatisactuallytweeted,particularlywithregardtothe

presentationofaspectsofpoliticians’professionalorprivatelives.LeeandOh

(2012),inastudyusingaJapanesesample,foundthatrevealingaspectsofa

politician'sprivatelifeincreasedmessagerecognitionandrecallbuthadan

ambiguouseffectonintentiontovote,asthelatterfactorwascomplicatedby

confoundingfactorssuchastheindividual’sdegreeofsocialactiveness.

Kruikemeier(2014)usedalargecontentanalysisoftweetstopredictvoting

figures,findingthatrevealingpersonalfeaturessuchasone’semotionsor

privatelifehad“surprisingly”noimpactonthenumberofvotes(p.135).Asan

explanationofthisresult,shepositedthatsincetweetscomefrompeople’s

personalaccounts,alltweetsmayhavebeenconsideredsomewhatpersonal.

Giventheinconclusivenessoftheresults,theauthorsofbothpriorstudiescalled

forfutureexperimentalworktoascertainwhethertheimpactofpoliticians’

presentationoftheirpersonallifeaffectsvotingintentions(Kruikemeier,p.137;

seealsoLee&Oh,2012).

Respondingtothesecalls,thispaperaimstotesttheimpactofpoliticians’useof

awithin-tweetbalancingstrategy(i.e.,mixingprofessionalandprivate

presentationwithineachtweet)versusfront-stage-only(strictlyprofessional)

presentation.Indoingso,weseektocontributevaluableknowledgeontheself-

presentationofpoliticiansonTwitter.Moreover,wecontributemorebroadlyto

knowledgeregardingself-presentationinthefaceofcontextcollapseby

providingthefirstempiricaltestofthebalancingstrategy.Unlikepreviouswork

inthisarea,weadoptalongitudinalapproach,fortworeasons:firstbecauseself-

disclosuresaremutuallyreinforcingovertime(Trepte&Reinecke,2013),and

secondbecauserelationshipswithbrandsarenotbuiltinaday(Veloutsou&

Moutinho,2009).Furthermore,ourfocusisonoutcomesatthepartylevelrather

thanfortheindividualpolitician.Wechosethislevelofanalysisfirst,because

votingforpartieswithinaparty-listproportionalrepresentationisthe“most

commontypeofelectoralsystememployedindemocracies”(Bormann&Golder,

2013,p.365).Second,thisprovidesanalternativeperspectivetotheprevious

researchinthisarea,whichfocusedoncandidate-leveleffects(Lee&Oh,2012;

Kruikemeieretal.,2013).Third,weenvisageparty-focusedevidencetobeof

greaterneedininformingpartylevelsocialmediapolicydocumentsforusewith

memberpoliticians.Partiesacknowledgetheimportanceofthisissuethat

guidanceisneededforpoliticiansengagingtheelectorate(Mason,2015).

Wetesttheeffectofabalancingstrategyupontwoconstructs:interestinthe

politicalpartyandintentiontovoteforthepoliticalparty.Therationalefor

measuringintentiontovoteforthepoliticalpartyisstraightforward,asgetting

votesistheendgoalofpoliticalcampaigning.Thisvariablewasexaminedby

previousresearchinthefield(Papagiannidis,Coursaris,&Bourlakis,2012;Park

&Yang,2012),anditsselectionisfairlyobvious.Incontrast,thedecisionto

measureinterestinthepoliticalpartymarksadeviationfromtradition,as

attitudeisamoretypicaldependentvariablefortheoutcomeofcommunication.

However,Machleit,Allen,andMadden(1993)establishedbrandinterestasa

distinctandhighlyrelevantdependentvariablewheninvestigatingmature

brands.Theyconcludedthatformaturebrands(whichwouldincludemost

politicalpartiesastheyaretypicallyquiteold),one’sattitudeisrather

established.Consequently,theauthorsarguethatbrandinterest,arelatedbut

separateconstructmeasuringthe“baselevelofapproachability,inquisitiveness,

openness,orcuriosityanindividualhasaboutabrand”(p.73),hasgreater

efficacyinmeasuringtheoutcomesofcommunicationsforsuchbrands

comparedtoexaminingattitude.Therefore,interestinthepartywaschosen

ratherthanattitudetowardtheparty.Furthermore,whetherthefollowersliked

thecommunicationisconsideredasamediatorinthepossiblerelationships

aboveandisthesubjectofourfirsthypothesis.

HypothesisDevelopment

Weproposethattheuseofawithin-tweetbalancingstrategy(amixof

professionalandprivatepresentation)asopposedtoapurelyfront-stage,

strictlyprofessionalpresentationwillleadfollowersonTwittertolikethe

communicationmore.Anecdotalevidencesupportsthisnotion.PublicRelations

TacticsmagazinehasrecommendedusingamorepersonaltoneonTwittertoget

individualstolikeone’scommunication.Inaddition,previousworkhas

demonstratedthatvotersexpecttoknowsomedetailsofapolitician’spersonal

life(Langer,2010)andhavedifficultiestrustingpoliticianswhodonotshare

suchdetails(Brooks,2016).Afront-stage-onlystyleofcommunicationwould

thuscreateanexpectationgapbetweenwhatfollowersexpecttoseeandwhat

theydosee.Suchagaphasbeendemonstratedtoreducelikingandsatisfaction

inaservicesetting(Sheth&Mittal,1996),andweexpectthatthesamelogicwill

applyinacommunicationsetting.Wethereforehypothesizeasfollows:

H1.Votersexposedtoawithin-tweetbalancingstrategyfromapolitician

onTwitterwilllikethecommunicationmorethanvotersexposedtoafront-

stage-onlystrategy.

Ifawithin-tweetbalancingstrategyindeedcreatesgreaterlikingofthe

communication,thisshouldalsoleadtoanincreasedinterestinthepolitical

partyandanincreasedintentiontovoteforthepoliticalparty.Likingisbelieved

tobeaninfluentialhumanemotionthatmotivatesthedevelopmentof

relationshipswithotherpersonsorbrands(e.g.,Altman&Taylor,1973;Ye&

VanRaaij,2004).Assuch,theconstructoflikinghaspreviouslybeenfoundto

mediatethesuccessofmarketingcommunicationsanddesiredoutcomessuchas

boxofficesales(Boksem&Smidts,2015)andincreasedstakeholdertrust

(Nicholson,Compeau,&Sethi,2001).Wepredictthatasimilareffectwillemerge

inpoliticalcommunication.Hence,anincreasedinterestinthepoliticalpartyor

inintentiontovoteshouldresultfromfollowingaTwitterfeedifthefollower

appreciatesthecontent.Wehypothesizeaccordingly:

H2.Votersexposedtoawithin-tweetbalancingstrategyfromapolitician

onTwitterwillbemoreinterestedinthepoliticalpartythanvotersexposed

toafront-stage-onlystrategy.

H3.Votersexposedtoawithin-tweetbalancingstrategyfromapolitician

onTwitterwillhaveagreaterintentiontovoteforthepoliticalpartythan

votersexposedtoafront-stage-onlystrategy.

Wealsopropose,basedonpriorresearch,thathowmuchafollowerlikesthe

communicationwillmediatetheefficacyoftheTwitterpresentationalstrategy

andtheoutcomevariablesinH2andH3(seeBoksem&Smidts,2015;Nicholson

etal.,2001).Henceweaddthispairofhypotheses:

H4a.Whetheronelikesthecommunicationresultingfromawithin-tweet

balancingstrategywillmediatethepositiveeffectfoundoninterestinthe

politicalparty.

H4b.Whetheronelikesthecommunicationresultingfromawithin-tweet

balancingstrategywillmediatethepositiveeffectfoundontheintentionto

voteforthepoliticalparty.

Method

Participants

Totestourhypotheses,weconductedanexperimentalstudyoverfivedayswith

288subjects,whowererecruitedthroughanonlinewebpanelofaprofessional

marketresearchcompanybasedinSweden.Thesamplewas57%male,witha

meanageof40years(SD=15.5).Therespondentswereanationally

representativesampleofeligiblevotersinSweden.Therewardforour

respondents’participationwaspointsvaluedequivalentto6USDthatcouldbe

receivedaseithermoneyorredeemedforproducts.

StimulusDevelopment

FictitiousTwitteraccountsofparliamentarypoliticiansinSwedenwerecreated.

ThissetupgaveustotalcontroloftheTwittercommunicationandensuredthat

thecausalconclusionsregardingtheeffectofabalancedversusafront-stage-

onlypresentationstrategywouldbewarranted.Tocreatesuitablestimulus

tweets,theresearchteamstudiedthefeedsof30well-knownEuropean

politicians.Theinvestigatortriangulationmethod(Denzin,1973)wasadopted.

Teammembersindividuallycodedtweetsfordifferentpoliticiansintothe

differentself-presentationstrategies.Wherethespecificstrategywasuncertain

thiswasdiscussedwithatleastoneothermemberoftheteamandaconsensus

reached.Itwasagreedthatmostofthetweetsexaminedwerelargely

professionalinnature(approx.75%),withsomemaintainingabalancing

strategy(approx.20%).However,veryfewwerestrictlyrelatedtothe

politician’sprivatelife(approx.lessthan5%).

Usingthisbackgroundresearchasaguide,wecreateddifferentlistsoftweetsfor

twoexperimentalgroups.Group1(front-stage-only)wasexposedtotweets

containingnodetailsofthepolitician’sprivatelife,suchas“Today,wewill

discussthebudgetfortheDepartmentofDefense.”Group2(balanced)was

exposedtothesametweets,butwiththeadditionofadetailfromthepolitician's

privatelifeineachtweet,e.g.,“Afterhavingaheartybreakfasttoday,wewill

discussthebudgetfortheDepartmentofDefense.”Thesepersonaldetails

variedineachtweet(pleaseseeappendix1formoreexamples.)Duetothis

manipulation,thetweetsprovidedtogroup2inherentlyusedmorecharacters

thanthoseforgroup1;however,thisdifferenceisnotbelievedtoconfound

interpretationofthetweets,aspriorworkhasfoundnorelationshipbetween

tweetlengthandinterpersonalinfluence(Lahuerta-Otero&Cordero-Gutiérrez,

2016).

Aswewantedtocontrolforgendereffectsofthepoliticianasacovariate,groups

1and2werefurthersubdividedintotwosegmentseach,featuringpoliticiansof

differentgenders.Thus,halfthemembersineachexperimentalgroupfolloweda

malepoliticianandtheotherhalfafemalepoliticianalthoughallmembersof

group1(2)receivedidenticalfront-stage-only(balanced)tweets.Theaccounts

providedtobothgroups1and2containedidenticalshortdescriptionsofthe

respectivepoliticiansaswellasidenticalphotos(onlyamendedtomatchthe

genderofthepoliticians).Thedescriptionsstatedthenamesofthepoliticians

andthattheyweremembersofparliamentinthecountrywheretheparticipants

resided.Toavoidtheriskofconfoundingfactorsassociatedwiththepolitician’s

politicalparty,nopartyaffiliationswereindicated,eventhoughwerecognized

thatthisremovalcouldslightlydecreasetheecologicalvalidityofthestudy.The

listoftweetsalsoreflectedthisdecision,asgeneraldetailsaboutparliamentary

lifeandissuesthatconcernpartiesacrosstheideologicalspectrumwereused,

ratherthananystatementsthatmightcauseparticipantstoassociatethe

fictitiouspoliticianwithanactualpoliticalparty.

ManipulationCheck

Aftercompletingthelistsoftweets,weadministeredapretestto31respondents

whoratedhowpersonaltheyfoundthetweetsfrombothgroupsona10-point

scale(fromnotatallpersonaltoverypersonal).Apairedsamplettestshowed

thatthemeanof7.13forthetweetsrevealingdetailsofthepolitician’spersonal

lifewassignificantlygreaterthanthemeanof3.75fortheprofessionaltweets(t

=4.10,p<.001).Withinthispretest,participantswerealsoaskedtoindicatethe

likelihoodthatthelistoftweetscamefromaparliamentarianinthecountryof

study,asacheckforecologicalvalidity.Responsesweregivenona10-point

Likertscale(notatalllikelytoverylikely).Aone-samplet-testrevealedthatthe

meanof7.19wassignificantlyhigherthantheaveragepossiblescoreof5.5(t=

5.24,p<.001),thusprovingthatthetweetsinourstudyweredeemedlikelyto

beusedbyrealpoliticians.Apairedsamplettestofthisvariablefurthermore

revealedthatthislikelihoodwasnotsignificantlydifferentbetweenthetwo

experimentalgroups(t=-.137,p=.892).

Procedure

Recruitmenttookplacesevendayspriortothestartofthestudy.Totakepartin

thestudy,theparticipantshadtopossessoracquireaTwitteraccount.

Participantsagreedtofollowapolitician’sTwitteraccountforfiveconsecutive

days(MondaytoFriday)andthenanswerasurveydistributedontheafternoon

ofdayfive.Theythenreceivedanemailwithalinkrandomlyassigningthemto

oneofthestudy’sfourexperimentalTwitteraccountsthattheyweretofollow.

Participantsreceivedtweetspostedfromthatexperimentalaccountthreetimes

dailyforfivedays(which,afterinvestigatingvariouspoliticaltwittersinorderto

developthestimuli,wedeterminedwasconsistentwithwhatiscommonlyan

activetweetingrate).Toconfirmthattheparticipantswereactuallyexposedto

thetweetsduringtheexperiment,theywereinstructedtowriteonetweetper

daythemselvesorto“like”oneofthepolitician’stweets.Wecheckeddailyto

verifythatthisprescribedactivityhadoccurred.Duringthefivedays,23ofthe

288participantswereremovedfromthedatasetbecausetheyfailedtofollow

theinstructions,leaving265participantsinthestudy.Therewerenosignificant

differencesinage(F=.883,p=.53)orgender(χ2=5,93,p=.58)betweenour

experimentalgroups.

Measures

Allitemsweremeasuredon10-pointLikertscales(1=completelydisagree;10=

completelyagree).Interestinthepoliticalpartywasmeasuredusingtwoitems:

“Ithinkthat[X’s]partyseemsinteresting”and“Iwouldliketolearnmoreabout

[X’s]party.”Ameanofthetwoanswerswascalculatedtoformanindex(r=.77).

Intentiontovoteforthepoliticalpartywasmeasuredwithasingleitem:“Icould

considervotingfor[X’s]party.”Likingthecommunicationwaslikewise

measuredwithasingleitem:“Iliketheway[X]communicatesonTwitter.”In

additiontothehypothesizedvariables,wemeasuredtwopossiblecovariates:

frequencyofsocialmediausage(measuredbythesingleitem“Iusesocialmedia

frequently”)andpoliticalinterest(measuredbythesingleitem(“Iampolitically

interested”).

Wefullyappreciatethatitcouldbeconsideredcontroversialtousesingleitem-

measures,butweneverthelessdecidedtodoso.Supportingthisdecisionwere

thefindingsofBergkvistandRossiter(2007),whodemonstratedthatthe

predictivevalidityofsingle-itemmeasuresisoftennodifferentfromthatof

multi-itemmeasures.Tofurtherensurevalidity,wepretestedtheseitemsfor

ambiguitytodetermineiftheywereunderstoodequivocally,suchthat“there

[was]noneedformultipleitemmeasures”(Alexandrov,2010,p.1).Thispretest

wasconductedintwostages.Inthefirststageweletfellowresearcherswho

werenotpartofthestudydeterminewhetherthemeasuresneededrevisingin

anyway.Uponlearningthattheydidnotweneverthelessconductedasmall

focusgroupwithuninitiatedindividualsinordertoseeifthemeasureswere

understoodasintended.Again,theresultsatthesecondstageindicatedthatthey

were.Thus,wefeelconfidentinthereliabilityofourresults.

Results

InordertotestH1,2and3,weemployedANCOVAanalysisinordertotestthe

meansofourtestvariablesaswellastheeffectsizeofourindependentvariable

whileatthesametimecontrollingfortheeffectsofourcovarates.

TotestH1,whichpredictedthatawithin-tweetbalancingstrategybyapolitician

onTwitterwouldleadtogreaterlikingofthecommunication,wecomparedthe

meanscoresonlikingthecommunicationbetweenthetwoexperimentalgroups.

Thedifferencebetweenthegroupexposedtoawithin-tweetbalancingstrategy

(M=4.84,SD=2.53,N=131)andthegroupexposedtoafront-stage-only

strategy(M=4.04,SD=2.62,N=134)wasstatisticallysignificant(p<.01;see

Table1).ThepartialEtaSquaredwas.027.Noneofthecovariatesproved

significantintheanalysis.Hence,H1wassupported.

TotestH2,predictingthatawithin-tweetbalancingstrategybyapoliticianon

Twitterwouldleadtoahigherlevelofinterestinthepoliticalparty,weagain

comparedthemeansbetweenexperimentalgroups.Thedifferencebetweenthe

groupexposedtoawithin-tweetbalancingstrategy(M=5.46,SD=2.11,N=

131)andthegroupexposedtoafront-stage-onlystrategy(M=4.87,SD=2.30,N

=134)wasstatisticallysignificant(p<.05;seeTable1).ThepartialEtaSquared

was.017.Noneofthecovariatesprovedsignificantintheanalysis.Thus,H2was

supported.

WithregardtoH3,whichstatedthatawithin-tweetbalancingstrategybya

politicianonTwitterwouldleadtoagreaterintentiontovoteforthepolitical

party,thedifferenceinmeansbetweenthegroupexposedtoawithin-tweet

balancingstrategy(M=4.82,SD=2.33,N=131)andthegroupexposedtoa

front-stage-onlystrategy(M=4.12,SD=2.16,N=134)wasstatistically

significant(p<.05;seeTable1).ThepartialEtaSquaredwas.025.Noneofthe

covariatesprovedsignificantintheanalysis.Hence,H3wassupported.

Table1abouthere

H4aandH4bpredicted,respectively,thatwhetheronelikedthecommunication

receivedfromapolitician’swithin-tweetbalancingstrategyonTwitterwould

mediatethepositiveeffectsoninterestinthepoliticalpartyandintentiontovote

forthepoliticalparty.Totestthesehypotheses,weusedPreacherandHayes’s

(2008)modelofbootstrappedmediation.Thismodeliswellsupportedwithin

thefield(cf.Kim&Park,2011).Theindependentvariablewasadummyvariable

representingtheexperimentalgroup(0=front-stage-onlygroup,1=balancing

strategygroup).ThePreacherandHayes(2008)modelassessestheeffectofan

indirectpath(denotedab)throughabootstrappedconfidenceinterval.Thepath

isdeemedsignificantbytheupperandlowerconfidenceintervalsnotincluding

zero.Formediationtoexist,theonlynecessaryconditionisasignificantpathab

(seealsoZhao,LynchJr.,&Chen,2010).

Twomediationsweretested,oneforeachdependentvariable(seeFigures1and

2).Bootstrapresamplingwassetat5,000.Thefivecovariatesofconcernwere

includedineachmodel,namely,genderofthepoliticianandrespondents’degree

ofsocialmediause,politicalinterest,age,andgender.Resultsareshownin

Figures1and2.Forbothinterestinthepoliticalpartyandintentiontovotefor

thepoliticalparty,indirect-onlymediationswereestablished,meaningthatthe

relationshipsbetweenourindependentanddependentvariableswerefully

mediatedbyliking.Thus,whenexposedtoawithin-tweetbalancingstrategy,

votersfeltmoreinterestinthepoliticalpartyandhadagreaterintentiontovote

forthepolitician’sparty,arelationshipthatwasmediatedbywhethertheyliked

thecommunication.Thus,H4aandH4bweresupported.Noneofthecovariates

weresignificantatanystageofanyofthetwomodels(p>.05).

Figures1and2abouthere

Discussion

Fromthestandpointofthepoliticalparty,ourfindingssupportencouragingthe

party’spoliticianstouseabalancingstrategytoengagefollowersthrough

Twitter.Thisresultsupportspriorstudiesthathavefoundelectoratesto

respondbettertomorepersonalizedcommunicationbypoliticians(Druckman,

2003;Kruikemeieretal.,2013).Specifically,wefindthattweetscombining

professionalandprivatereferencesincreaseinterestinthepolitician’spartyand

intentiontovotefortheparty,whencomparedtotweetscontainingprofessional

contentonly.Theserelationshipswerefullymediatedbywhetherthe

respondentlikedthecommunication.Thissupportsthenecessityofcausing

recipientstolikemarketingcommunicationsinordertoattainpositive

outcomes,asfoundbypriorstudies(Boksem&Smidts,2015;Chintagunta2010;

Nicholsonetal.,2001).Inotherwords,ourresultsshowthatabalancedstrategy

ispreferredbyTwitterusersoverafront-stage-onlyone.

OurresultsshedfurtherlightonKruikemeier’s(2014)findingthattheamountof

tweetsthatincludedpersonalaspects(i.e.,referencetoemotionsorprivatelife)

had,byherownadmission,“surprisingly”nosignificantassociationwiththe

numberofvotesreceived(p.135).Weproposethatthismaybebecause

Kruikemeier(2014)treatedoccurrencesofback-stageexpressionsseparately

fromfront-stagecommunications.Ourstudyhighlightsthenecessityforboth

politicianswhotweetandresearcherstoconsiderthedistinctimpactofhybrid,

balancedtweets.WealsoextendLeeandOh’s(2012)findingthatirrespectiveof

thelevelofpoliticalinterest,thedegreeofsocialmediausage,orthegenderof

thepoliticiansorfollowers,abalancedstrategyinwhichpoliticiansreveal

aspectsoftheirprivatelivesissuperiortoappearingstrictlyprofessional.

ImplicationsandConclusion

Ourresearchmakestwocorecontributionswithseveralimplications.First,we

contributetounderstandingoftheself-presentationofpoliticiansthrough

Twitter.Specifically,weshowwithintheconstraintsofourexperimentthat

politicalpartiesmayattractgreaterinterestandvotingintentionfromtheir

electorateiftheirpoliticiansprovideabalancedself-presentationalstrategy,

opposedtoafront-stage-onlyapproach.Currently,politicalpartiesspenda

sizableportionoftheirmarketingbudgetonsocialmedia,particularlyin

acquiringfollowersand,inthecaseofFacebook,page“likes”(Hawthorne,2015;

Marderetal.,2016).However,weproposethattheirresourcescouldbebetter

allocatedintheshorttermtomaximizingcurrentengagementwiththeirexisting

followers,withsubsequenteffectsonfuturefollowers.

Toincreaseinterestinthepartyandintentiontovote,politicalpartycampaign

managersshouldfocusonprovidingguidanceaboutthebalancingstrategy.

Guidelinesandseminarscouldbeprovidedtomemberpoliticians,explaining

howtoundertakeabalancingstrategy.Giventhepresentfindings,thisguidance

shouldincluderecognitionofthevalueofrevealingaspectsofone’sprivatelife

withinprofessionallyorientedtweets.Furthermore,weofferasuggestionfor

sitedesignerstohelpthemincreasetheabilityofpublicfigurestoengagetheir

followerssuccessfullywithappealingcontent,thusbenefitingthesocialmedia

platformoverall.Specifically,theyshouldreconsiderthe“prompt”phraseused

inthetweet/postboxforuserswhoare“verified”(i.e.,micro-celebritieswith

largefollowings),toencouragetweetsofabalancednature.

Inaddition,wehighlightthevitalroleofwhetheronelikesacommunicationin

mediatingtheeffectofself-presentationcontentontheattainmentofpositive

outcomes.Specifically,ourresultsshowthatfollowersliketweetsmoreifthe

messagerevealsaspectsofapolitician’sprivatelife.Researchersexaminingthe

impactofuser-generatedcontentshouldconsiderthisconstructofwhetherone

likesthecommunicationasamediatingfactor.Furthermore,inproviding

guidanceontheuseofsocialmedia,politicalmanagersneedtopromotetheneed

forlikablecontent.Theymaywishtoconductinternalauditsoftheirpoliticians’

currenttweetsorconductresearchontheelectorate’sperceptionstobetter

understandwhatcontentismostlikableinrelationtopoliticians’privateor

professionallives.Furthermore,insightcanbeobtainedfromexistingresearch

onhowtogetthemostfrombrandsocialmediacommunicationsinorderto

increaseliking(Malhotra,Malhotra,&See,2012,2013).

Second,wecontributemorebroadlytoenhancingpriorknowledgeregarding

self-presentationthroughsocialmediainthefaceofcontextcollapseby

providingthefirstempiricaltestofabalancingstrategy(Marderetal.,2012;

Marwick&Boyd,2011).Beyondthecontextofpolitics,bothmicro-celebrities

andgeneraluserswhocommunicatewithdiverseaudiencesthroughsocial

mediashouldconsideradoptingabalancingstrategytomaximizethebenefitsof

theirnetwork.Ourstudiessuggestthatthebalancingstrategyprovidesan

alternativeandmorepositiveapproachtoonlineimpressionmanagement,as

opposedtoaratherdefensiveself-censorshiptactic(Marderetal.,2016a).

LimitationsandFutureResearch

Thisstudyhasseveralstrengths,includingitslongitudinalapproachinwhich

stimulusmaterialsarrivednaturallywithinTwitternewsfeeds.Furthermore,it

employedthewell-establishedtheoreticallensofself-presentationtoexamine

animportantphenomenonofinteresttopoliticalparties,researchers,and

platformdesigners.However,thestudydoeshavesomelimitations.First,

althoughwemadeeffortstoincreaseecologicalvalidity(e.g.througha

longitudinaldesignadministeredthroughtheinterface),akinwithmost

experimentsourstudywaslimitedduetotheinabilitytotestreal-life

phenomenon.Weproposetherearemanyreal-worldfactorsthatmaychallenge

ourfindingstheseincludepre-existingattitudesofthepoliticianorparty,the

timeuntilelectiondayandthespecificsentimentoftheback-stagecomponentof

theTweets.Forexample,ourcontrolledexperimentalfindingsmustbetaken

withapinchofsaltwhenconsideringtheimpactofTrumpintheleaduptothe

2016Presidentialelection,whowaswidelydiscussedtohavebeentweetingin

anunprofessionalmanneraboutprofessionalmatters.Duetothelimited

ecologicalvalidityofourstudywecallforfurtherresearchtovalidateor

challengeourfindingscarriedoutontheexistingtwitteractivityofreal-life

politicians.Specifically,studiesshouldcodeexistingtweetsfortheself-

presentationalstrategiestheorizedhereandascertaintheirimpactthrough

examiningengagementstatistics(e.g.no.retweets,replies)andanalyzethe

sentimentwithintheseinteractions.

Second,weexaminedonlytheefficacyofawithin-tweetbalancingstrategy;

futurestudiesshouldexamineandcontrastexperimentallytheuseofwithin-

tweetandbetween-tweetbalancingstrategies.Third,wedidnotprovidea

controlconditionofback-stage-onlytweets.Thisomissionwasdrivenbyour

preliminarycontentanalysisofpoliticians'tweets,whichfoundthattheyalmost

invariablycontainedaprofessionalelement,andourownresourcerestrictions

associatedwiththelongitudinaldesign.Thoughthecomparisonconductedhere

betweenfront-stage-onlyandbalancedself-presentationprovidesauseful

contributiontotheoryandpractice,throughbeingthefirsttestforMarwickand

Boyds(2011)theorizedstrategyandsheddinglightonareal-lifeissuefor

politicians.Futureresearchshouldcontrolforback-stage-onlytweetstoextend

andvalidateourfindings.

Fourth,ourstudyusedhypotheticalpoliticiansandparties,thuscontrollingfor

previouslyformedattitudesthatparticipantsmayhavehadtowardknown

entities.Thoughthisaspectofourmethodwasadvantageousforinternal

validity,itreducesecologicalvalidityinordertoavoidthepossiblecomplexities

notedbyLeeandOh(2012),whousedrealpartiesintheirresearch.Additional

studiesshouldreplicateourstudydesignwithreferencestorealpoliticalentities

tounderstandtheimpactofthispotentiallyconfoundingfactor.

Fourth,althoughwehadgoodreasonsforexaminingthedependentvariablesat

thepartylevel,theeffectsofabalancedstrategymaydifferatthelevelofthe

individualpolitician.Finally,thegeneralizabilityofthestudyislimitedtoa

westernEuropeancontext,andthereforecautionmustbepracticedwhen

extrapolatingthefindingsbeyondthisregion,ortocountriesthatdonothave

party-listelectoralsystems.Futurestudiesshouldexaminebalancingstrategies

inothercountrieswithdifferenttypesofelectoralsystems.

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Table1

Variable 1.Meanwithin-tweetbalancingstrategy(N=134)

2.Meanfront-stage-onlystrategy(N=131)

P<

Likingthecommunication

4.04 4.84 .01

Interestinthepoliticalparty

4.87 5.46 .05

Intentiontovoteforthepoliticalparty

4.12 4.82 .05

Figure1Βab=.356LowerLimitofConfidenceInterval=.099UpperLimitofConfidenceInterval=.713

±n.s;*p<0.05;**p<0.01

Front-stage/Balancing

Likingthecommunication

Interestinthepoliticalparty

cβ=.185±

β=.817*a

β=.486**b

Figure2Βab=.397LowerLimitofConfidenceInterval=.085UpperLimitofConfidenceInterval=.663

±n.s;*p<0.05;**p<0.01

Front-stage/Balancing

Likingthecommunication

Intentiontovoteforthepoliticalparty

cβ=.338±

β=.817*a

β=.437**b

Appendix1:Examplesoftweetsusedinthestudy(translatedfromSwedishbytheauthors)Front-stage-onlytweets

Onmywaytoadebateonschoolpolicy.

Justhadlunchwithagroupofninth-gradersvisitingparliament.

Justfinishedanop-edpieceonthenationsbudgetingprocess.

Ataribbon-cuttingceremonyofthenewandimprovedraillinkbetweenTrelleborgandMalmö.

VisitingthelocalGothenburgchapterofthepartyonmywaybackfromSkåne.Balancedstrategytweets

Onmywaytoadebateonschoolpolicyafterdroppingthekidsoffatdaycare.

Justhadlunchwithagroupofninth-gradersvisitingparliament.Theyremindmeofmyselfatthatage.

Justfinishedanop-edpieceonthenationsbudgetingprocess.Hittingtherunningtrailshortly.

Lefthomeearlythismorning.Nowataribbon-cuttingceremonyofthenewandimprovedraillinkbetweenTrelleborgandMalmö.

VisitingthelocalGothenburgchapterofthepartyonmywaybackfromSkåne.Ranintoanoldfriendfrommytimeinthepartyyouthorganization.