Analyzing the share of media followers of government Twitter accounts across Western European countries

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Serval ID
serval:BIB_0A62AF27EB8E
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Analyzing the share of media followers of government Twitter accounts across Western European countries
Journal
European Journal of Communication
Author(s)
Reveilhac Maud, Trembovelskyi Bohdan
ISSN
0267-3231
1460-3705
Publication state
Published
Issued date
06/02/2025
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Language
english
Abstract
The study investigates which democracy dimensions impact the share of (foreign) media followers of European governments’ Twitter social media accounts. To achieve this target, a network analysis and a data-linking strategy are relied upon to conduct three multilevel regression models. The first model reveals that while overall government media attention is positively associated with gross domestic product and internet penetration, it is negatively associated with higher levels of deliberative democracy. The second model, which focuses specifically on the share of foreign media followers, finds that individual-level factors are the primary predictors of foreign media attention. The third model explores the country context of media followers and indicates that government accounts benefit from followers in countries with higher democratic standards and greater media freedom, though there are negative associations with certain democratic dimensions such as liberal and participative democracy. Additionally, ministers and ministries consistently have a higher proportion of foreign media followers compared to heads of state. These findings are discussed in light of the literature on Twitter's role in media attention and gatekeeping theory.
Create date
07/02/2025 14:08
Last modification date
14/03/2025 7:13
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