Date of Award

8-8-2023

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Political Science

First Advisor

Sarah Gershon

Second Advisor

Daniel Franklin

Third Advisor

Lakeyta Bonnette-Bailey

Abstract

Do social media platforms influence state level election outcomes? This study examines how governors use the social media platform, Twitter, to aid in election and re-election efforts. Previous investigations into Twitter usage and public addresses have illustrated how politicians strategically disseminate information across various mediums to communicate with the public, mobilize voters, and showcase their in-office achievements. However, few studies have extensively examined the link between social media political communication and election outcomes on a state level. I attempt to expand the understanding and applicability of political communication to include Tweets specific election aiding content and electoral success in state-level elections. I provide OLS, Logit, and Negative Binomial Count Models to examine 161 U.S. Gubernatorial elections gubernatorial disseminated tweets from 2010-2020. The results indicate that gubernatorial twitter content that involves taking a stance on salient topics, personalizing themselves, and mentioning other Twitter users provided a measurable change in the likelihood of winning gubernatorial elections.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.57709/35864479

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