Politică și societate
Social Media and Political Communication
Case Study – The Parliamentary
Parties In Romania
TĂNASE TASENŢE
[„Andrei Şaguna”
University of Constanţa]
NICOLETA CIACU
[„Constantin Brâncoveanu”
University of Brăila]
Abstract:
The study aims to examine the extent to which
parliamentary parties from Romania are using Social
Media to promote their image and political messages,
but also the level of participation of supporters in
social networks. More than that, another objective
of this paper aims to identify similarities between
the hypothetical percentages of supporters of
political parties in Social Media, electoral
percentages of accessing the Romanian Parliament and
the current political configuration of the Romanian
Parliament. The research focused on comparative
analysis of the “de facto” representation of the
parliamentary parties in the romanian community and
the degree of representation in social networks. The
Research method used is quantitative analysis of the
online documents and working tool used is the
traffic analysis and the degree of the participation
in social networks.
Keywords:
online political communication; Social media
analysis; political parties from Romania; Facebook;
Blogs
1. Introduction
The new Media caused major changes in the political
communication. They have become a resource often used by the political actors in
order to strengthen their „capital of visibility”. All the new media resources –
among which we can mention the websites, blogs, Facebook and Twitter of the
politicians and / or the political parties, allow „the affirmation of a
discursive identity of politicians, contributing to the customizing
of the political discourse (the politician presents his political platform in
the context of interaction with his voter-user)”
1.
This analysis aims to identify how the parliamentary parties in Romania
managed to mobilize their voters by means of the communication mediated by the
social networks, blogs and videos on Youtube. Another aim of the paper requires
the identification of any similarities or differences between the percentages of
the supporters of the political parties in the Social Media, the electoral
percentages of accessing the Parliament of Romania obtained in the 2008
parliamentary elections and the political configuration of the Parliament of
Romania at the end of the parliamentary session.
2. Functions of the New Media in the Political Communication
In the context of the relationship between the political actor,
mass media and the public / electorate, Camelia Beciu
2 identifies a number of functions that the Internet / the New Media
have, as follows:
a) The politician broadcasts his „controlled speech” and has the possibility
of presenting his point of view without being „interrupted” by the journalists,
by his opponents, by the media format constraints, etc;
b) The political opinions and posts broadcast in the traditional media – local
and national – are replicated online. Thus, the political actor argues the
visibility of his key messages delivered to a target group;
c) Due to the new media, the politicians launch a presumptive political and
media agenda. Nowadays, it has become of common practice for the journalists to
give visibility to some statements taken from the blogs or Facebook pages of the
politicians. It was already created a symbiosis between the traditional media
and the new media;
d) The governors use the new means of mass communication to promote their
policies and the decisions they take and which give them the image of „good
governors”;
e) The political doctrines, policies and electoral projects are promoted by
the New Media, in a form other than the one in the traditional political
communication. There are used publicly available forms – „interactive”,
„narrative”, „conversational”.
f) The visibility of the electoral message – designing an alleged online
electioneering is part of a candidate’s electoral strategy, and each online
resource has a specific function for his campaign;
g) By means of the Internet, there can be mobilized the voters who are asked
to advance their opinion and to participate in the discussion on some issues of
public interest.
h) By using the Internet, the political actor interacts apparently more
„efficiently” with his voters, beyond the institutional and bureaucratic rigors.
3. Facebook – the Dissemination and the „Socializing” of the
Political Message
The real revolution of the Internet and mass communication
through the new media was realized at the beginning of the third millennium when
Web 1.0 has moved to a new phase of its development, namely Web 2.0. This step
meant, according to Mihai Horia Bădău, the liberation from the „tyranny of
technology”3. Furthermore, Web
2.0 was named the „Internet of the users”, developing a new model of mass
communication, characterized by a high degree of interaction between the
broadcaster / broadcasters and the online public.
Another essential feature of Web 2.0 is represented by its „accessibility”;
anyone could participate in sharing information and content, not only the IT
specialists and web designers, as is the case of Web 1.0.
In another sense, this concept represents „the evolution of the Internet from
a repository of information and communication technologies (represented by
sites), which were cumbersome forms of communication, to a symmetrical
communication space (platform which helps to transfer knowledge and
conversations, where people can meet and organize easily)”
4.
Facebook is a part of the Social Media category as well. Thus, the Facebook
social network has been defined as „a free online social network that allows its
registered users to create their personal profiles, to upload photos and videos,
to send messages and to interrelate with their friends, family and colleagues”5.
The Facebook social network was founded on February 4, 2004 and it currently has
a number of 906 895 580 registered members, 213 countries (www.socialbakers.com,
accessed on August 28, 2012). In other words, this site was created from the
perspective of at least five dimensions, as follows:
a) Market – where the members are allowed to post, read and respond to the
advertising messages;
b) Groups – allows the creation of virtual communities based on the common
interests of the members;
c) Events – allows the members to announce an event organized by themselves or
by others, to invite their friends to this event and to monitor those who accept
or decline their invitations;
d) Pages – allows members to create and promote a public page (a public
figure, politician, singer, company, etc.) built around an idea;
e) Instantaneous communication – allows all the members who are online to
interact instantly by means of the chat box.
In April 2009, Romania recorded a total of 110,000 users, according to the
Facebook Demographics: Trends study (authors: Ben Lorica and O’Reilly
Research), ranking 30th out of 34 in a ranking of the countries in Europe, just
ahead countries such as Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta and Ukraine. On November 21,
2010, the number of the Facebook users in Romania reached 1,897,920, given that
in May 2010, 1,287,500 members were registered.
Of the total population in Romania, 8.64% use Facebook, meaning 24.37% from
the number of people with access to the Internet. In November 2011, Romania
ranked 47th in the world ranking of the countries with the most Facebook
members. Only in September 2010, almost 1.7 million Romanians aged between 13
and 64 chose to join Facebook, equivalent to 7.4 percent of the population, as
reveals an analysis prepared by eResearch Corp Company
6.
At the end of August 2012, Romania ranked 34th in the world, with about 5
million Facebook profiles (ie – 4963760, according to the data provided by
www.facebrands.ro) and the penetration rate in the general population is of 22,
58% and of 63.68% in the population with Internet access.
Of the total active population on Facebook, 30% are between 18-24 years, 30% –
between 25 and 34 and 15% – between 35 and 44. The gender distribution is
symmetric, 50% of the users are women and 50% are men (www.socialbakers.com,
accessed on August 28, 2012). In the last 3 months the age segments that
registered the largest increases, of approximately 80,000 users, are those
between 25-34 years old and 35-44 years old respectively. The 45‑54 years old
category experienced a noticeable increase of about 40,000 users. This shows an
„aging” of Facebook in Romania, something that will be very important in the
context of the political communication and the formation of the online
communities of people who are political issues-oriented.
The political figures most visible in the Social Media, according to the data
from www.facebrands.ro (accessed on August 28, 2012) are:
Silviu Prigoană (87,644 fans), Victor Ponta (52,999 fans), Remus Cernea (45,589
fans), Sorin Oprescu (44,275 fans), Elena Udrea (36,404 fans), Cristian Popescu
Piedone (35,479 fans) and Crin Antonescu (31,033 fans). Also, in the „political”
section, www.facebrands.ro records, as well, several Facebook pages which do not
belong to a politician, but are for political reasons, such as „The Movement of
the Green” (29,227 fans), „You are mad at Băsescu. Why?” (26,320 fans), „YES! I
Vote” (11.772 fans) etc.
In order to build a relevant research, we will need to consider, as well, the
online voters that we find in this social network. Thus, the total population of
Romania is of 21,390,000, the number of citizens with voting rights is of
18,292,4647 (85.5% of the total
population), the number of the Internet users in Romania is of 8,578,4848
(40.1 %), the number of the Facebook members is of 4,963,7609
(57.9% of the Internet users). People who use Facebook and have the right to
vote represent a rate of about 85% of the total number of users, ie, 4,189,41310
(84.4% of the total number of the Facebook users).
ITEM |
TOTAL |
% |
Total population |
21.390.000 |
100% |
Citizens with voting rights |
18.292.464 |
85,5% |
Internet users (I.U.) |
8.578.484 |
40% |
Total Facebook members (Fb.M.) |
4.963.760 |
57,9% from I.U. |
Facebook members with voting rights |
4.189.413 |
84,4% from Fb.M. |
Fans of Facebook’s political pages |
87.200 |
1,76% from Fb.M. |
[Table 1 – Demographic data relevant
for the research
of the political communication by means of the Social Media]
From the perspective of social cohesion, which can be researched
in the field of political communication, a research conducted by Tasenţe Tănase
and Nicoleta Ciacu 11 showed
that, in 2010, the Facebook social network was unable to facilitate interaction
at the level of large groups but only at the level of individuals, as members of
larger groups. Beyond this, we can state that Facebook has a significant
contribution to the social reconfiguration in Romania in terms of the users who
need to create and promote their image in this online community, to complete
their group of friends and to interact with new people. With the development of
the Facebook users database and the growing involvement of the political actors
and their team of communicators in this type of communication by means of social
networks, we assume that Facebook will be able to facilitate interaction at the
level of large groups as well through the online opinion leaders, which will be
investigated in the next parliamentary elections held on December 9, 2012.
4. The Political Context in Romania
4.1. The Parliamentary parties in Romania
The Liberal Democratic Party (PD-L) is the heir of the
Democratic Party (DP). The DP was formed on March 31, 1993 by fusion,
merging the National Salvation Front with the Democratic Party, resulting in a
new legal personality, formalized by the Bucharest Court decision No. 13 of
May 23, 1993. On April 8, 2004 the NLP-DP Justice and Truth Alliance is recorded
in the Register of the Political Alliances. On December 15, 2007 delegates of
the DP and the DLP meet in an Extraordinary National Convention, where the
absorption of the LDP is announced by the DP, the change of the status, the DP
changing its name into the Liberal Democratic Party (PD-L.). This party ruled
from December 22, 2008 until April 27, 2012.
The Social Democratic Party (PSD) is the largest political
party in Romania, the representative of the social democracy, currently in power
in the Parliament of Romania. The PSD is the heir of the National Salvation
Front, the first political party that ruled Romania after the 1989 Revolution.
On February 6, 2011, the Social Democratic Party formed alongside with the
National Liberal Party and the Conservative Party, the Social Liberal Union as
an alternative to the PD-L government. Soon, it becomes the strongest current
political structure and, at the local elections in 2012, won 41.49% of the major
parliamentary seats and 49.48% of the County Council Chairmen (http://www.cdep.ro/pls/dic/site.page?den=act2_1&par1=1#t1c0s0a1).
The National Liberal Party (PNL) is one of the main political
parties in Romania, considered a historic party as well, with a significant role
in modernizing the country. It was established under that name on May 24, 1875.
Of the 87 offices of Romania, 30 were led by liberal prime ministers.
The Conservative Party (PC), the former Romanian Humanist
Party (RHP), is a political party in Romania, representing the conservative
doctrine of the Parliament of Romania. The Conservative Party was founded in
1991 after the fall of communism, as the Romanian Humanist Party (RHP). From
2005 to December 3, 2006, it was part of the ruling coalition. The party took
the present name on May 7, 2005.
The Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) is a
political organization founded to represent the interests of the Hungarian
community in Romania. In 2007 the union became a member of the European People’s
Party.
The National Union for the Progress of Romania (UNPR) is a
political party in Romania represented in the Parliament of Romania. This party
claims its political orientation as being left‑centered having a
social-democratic doctrine. In 2008, the members of the SDP, NLP and CP, as well
as of other parliamentary fractions represented in the Parliament of Romania,
came out of their groups, because of their support for the President, Traian
Băsescu. They formed the parliamentary group of independents. In May 2010, they
came together and formed the NUPR, which, allied with the D-LP and the DUHR,
participated in government.
4.2. The Political configuration of the Parliament of
Romania after the 2008 election
According to
www.alegeri.tv, a site specialized in analyzing the democratic elections in
Romania, the parliamentary seats in the 2008 elections were distributed as
follows:
1. The Liberal Democratic Party (PD-L) – 166 mandates from 471
2. The Alliance of Social Democratic Party and Conservative Party (PSD-PC) –
163 mandates from 471
3. The National Liberal Party (PNL) – 93 mandates from 471
4. The Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) – 31 mandates from 471
5. Minority group – 18 mandates from 471
Figure 1 – Political configuration after
the 2008 election
4.4. The current political configuration of the Parliament of Romania
According to
www.cdep.ro and
www.senat.ro,
the political configuration of the Parliament of Romania has undergone some
notable changes compared to the results of the last election in 2008, as
follows:
The Liberal Democratic Party has 140 MPs, compared to 166 in 2008. The PSD, PNL
and PC parties have formed an alliance called the Social Liberal Union, having
together 215 MPs. The Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania has, at present,
27 MPs, compared to 31 in 2008 and the Group of the National Minorities has 16
MPs, compared to 18 in 2008. The major change in the Parliament of Romania was
created by the migration of the PNL, PD-L and PSD MPs in the group of the
non-partisan MPs. Subsequently, of the 33 independent MPs, 24 have formed a new
political party called the National Union for the Progress of Romania.
Figure 2 – The current political
configuration of the Parliament of Romania
5. The Research Objectives
O1: Analyzing the extent to which the
parliamentary parties in Romania use the Social Media to promote the image and
the political message of the political party.
O2: Identifying the presumptive similarities and differences
between the percentages of the supporters of the political parties in Social
Media, the electoral percentages of accessing the Parliament of Romania and the
current political configuration of the parliamentary system in Romania.
6. The Research Hypotheses
H1: The parliamentary parties in Romania due not
fully exploit the promotion of the image and the political message of the party
and also the interaction with their voters by means of the Social Media.
H2: Even if the political configuration has changed
considerably in the Parliament of Romania, the political party supporters on
Facebook is, in percentage, equal to the electoral situation in the 2008
parliamentary elections.
7. The Research Method
The research method used to achieve the objectives is
represented by the quantitative analysis of the documents and the instrument
used is the analysis of the traffic and of the degree of participation in the
social networks. The problem studied in this paper was also discussed by a team
of researchers from Croatia, FYROM and Kosovo, the study being entitled
„Facebook and Political communication – Macedonian case”
12, published in International Journal of Computer Science Issues.
The instrument used for achieving O1: In the first instance,
in order to investigate whether the official websites of the parliamentary
political parties in Romania use the social networks and blogs to promote the
image of the party, I viewed the website of each party, for noticing if they
have on their first page, a link to their Facebook pages, Twitter, YouTube,
Flickr and other networks, and I also viewed the blogs of the political leaders.
Thus, the coding was binary, meaning that if on the political party website
there was not one of these social networks, the code was „0” and if there was,
the code was „1”.
The instrument used for achieving O2: In order to identify
the presumptive similarities and differences between the percentages of the
supporters of the political parties in the Social Media, the electoral
percentages of accessing the Parliament of Romania and the current political
configuration, I will use the following resources:
– www.facebrands.ro
– for grouping, in the „Politics” section the Facebook pages of the 6 political
parties taken as a research sample and for collecting the total number of fans
for each party separately;
– Facebook – for centralizing and grouping the Facebook communities (groups)
and the group members of the political parties under study;
– The proceedings of the Central Electoral Commission for the 2008 elections
and
www.alegeri.tv
specialized in analyzing the democratic elections in Romania – for calculating
the percentages of the election, on the basis of which the political parties
have access to the Parliament of the Romania. We will calculate these
percentages from the total number of the citizens eligible to vote registered on
the electoral lists and not from the number of the citizens turnout.
– www.cdep.ro and
www.senat.ro – for
collecting and centralizing the data on the current political configuration of
the Parliament of Romania.
8. The Data Collection and Analysis
Data were obtained as a result of centralizing the information
and the statistical figures from the official websites of the parliamentary
political parties in Romania. The entire research was based on the content
analysis of the online resources used by the political parties under study.
8.1. Analysis: The parliamentary political parties of
Romania in social networks
After reviewing the official sites of the parliamentary parties in Romania, the
use of the social networks and of the blogs of the political leaders are
represented as follows:
Political party |
FB |
Twitter |
Blogs |
Youtube |
Flickr |
Other |
Total |
% |
PD-L |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
13,3% |
PSD |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
83,33% |
PNL |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
83,33% |
PC |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
16,66% |
UDMR |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
33,33% |
UNPR |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0% |
Table no. 1 – The Social Media instruments
used by
the parliamentary parties in Romania on their official websites
The Liberal Democratic Party, according to the
www.pd.org.ro official website, does not promote the image and the political
message of the party in any social network, the only online resource used for
the interaction with its voters being the discussion forum. However, there are
icons for all the social networks under study, but refer to the main pages of
the social networks and not to the custom pages of the party.
The Social Democratic Party, according to the www.psd.ro
official website, promotes the image and the political message of the party in
all the social networks (Facebook, Twitter, blogs of the political leaders,
YouTube, Linkedin), less in the Flickr social network. The percentage of the use
of the Social Media by the Social Democratic Party is of 83.33%.
The National Liberal Party, according to the www.pnl.ro
official website, promotes the image and the political message of the party in
all the social networks (Facebook, Twitter, of the blogs political leaders,
YouTube, Linkedin), less in the Flickr social network. The percentage of the use
of the Social Media by the Liberal National Party is of 83.33%.
The Conservative Party, according to the www.pc.ro official
website, promotes the image and the political message of the party only through
the blogs of the politicians. The percentage of the use of the Social Media by
the Conservative Party is of 16.66%.
The Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania, according to
the www.udmr.ro official website, promotes the image and the political message
of the party only through Facebook and the blogs of the politicians. The
percentage of the use of the Social Media by the DUHR is of 33.33%.
The National Union for the Progress of Romania, according to
the www.unpr.eu official website, does not promote the image and the political
message of the party in any social network.
Figure 3 – The extent to which the
political parties use the social networks for promoting their image and
their political message
8.2. Analysis of representation in
the Parliament of Romania vs. representation on Facebook
Of the 171 pages of the „Politics” section on the Social
Media analysis site called www.facebrands.ro, 102 belong
to politicians, supporters and parliamentary parties (the
parliamentary session of 2008-2012), meaning a percentage
of approximately 60%. The remaining 69 Facebook pages
support a political cause or belong to the politicians or
the political parties not represented in the Parliament.
Relating to the Facebook groups supporting the six
political parties, we find that the total number is of 108
discussion groups, summing 85,269 members. The difference
between the discussion groups and the official pages of
Facebook is that, in the case of the groups / communities,
the initiative of debate is taken by the supporters of the
parties who do not impose them a topic for discussion, as
it is in the case of the official Facebook pages where
most of the times, the communication is one-sided.
Political party |
Groups |
Members |
Pages |
Fans |
% from total Fb |
% 2008 election** |
PD-L |
22 |
16.240 |
26 |
206545 |
4,93% |
12,64% |
PSD*** |
14 |
44.069 |
26 |
174108* |
4,16% |
12,86% |
PNL |
48 |
17.931 |
38 |
97060* |
2,31% |
7,06% |
PC*** |
6 |
1.077 |
7 |
21460* |
0,51% |
12,86% |
UDMR |
5 |
537 |
3 |
1136 |
0,02% |
2,04% |
UNPR |
13 |
5.415 |
2 |
36780 |
0,87% |
- |
TOTAL |
108 |
85.269 |
102 |
537089 |
|
Table no 2 – The Facebook social networks
of the parliamentary parties
* It was taken into account the Facebook page as well, including the number of
Liberal Social Union fans;
** The percentage was calculated from the total number of citizens eligible to
vote registered on the electoral lists
E.g. the SDP – CP Alliance – / 18,292,464 * 100 = 12.86%
*** The two parties run into an electoral alliance
Figure 4 – % 2008 parlamentary election vs.
Facebook fans
The Liberal Democratic Party
has 26 Facebook pages (of politicians or central or local
affiliates), for a total of 206,545 fans. The LDP
obtained, at the parliamentary elections in 2008, a rate
of 12.64% from the total number of citizens eligible to
vote registered on the electoral lists. The percentage of
the fans of the Facebook pages – the supporters of the
political party – is of 4.93% of the total number of the
Facebook users in Romania being over 18 years old.
Relating to the Facebook groups supporting the DLP, we
find that the total number is of 22 discussion groups,
summing 16,240 members. The DLP popularity obtained in the
Social Media correlates with the votes obtained in the
elections, so that we can state that a sufficient number
of them continue their support in the Social Media also.
The Social Liberal Union, the political
alliance that was formed during the parliamentary session,
consists of the Social Democratic Party, the National
Liberal Party and the Conservative Party, totaling
together 71 pages, and the cumulative number of fans is of
269,230 (taking into account that the Facebook page of the
Social Liberal Union has 11,669 members and supporters
from all the three political parties). The SDP – CP
Alliance obtained a rate of 12.64% from the total number
of citizens eligible to vote registered on the electoral
lists, and the LNP – 7.06%; therefore the SLU comprise a
percentage of 19.70% from the options in the 2008
elections. The percentage of the fans of the Facebook
pages – the supporters of the political alliance – is of
6.98% of the total number of the Facebook users in Romania
being over 18 years old. Relating to the Facebook groups
supporting the SLU, we find that the total number is of 68
discussion groups, summing 63,077 members. After the
formation of the political alliance, on Facebook there
were created by the supporters of the three parties, pages
and groups for supporting the union that emphasized the
extent to which they participated in the promotion of
their common political message.
The Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania
has 3 Facebook pages (of politicians or central or local
branches), with a total of 1,136 fans. The DUHR obtained a
rate of 2.04% of votes from the total number of citizens
eligible to vote registered on the electoral lists and the
percentage of the fans of the Facebook pages – the
supporters of the political party – is of 0.02% of the
total number of the Facebook users in Romania being over
18 years old. Relating to the Facebook groups supporting
the DUHR, we find that the total number is of 5 discussion
groups, summing 537 members. This indicates a very low
extent to which the Hungarian communities in Romania
participated in the social networks and the politics of
the Union is realized only by the politicians without the
active online participation of the electorate.
The National Union for the Progress of Romania
did not participate in the 2008 parliamentary elections,
but was formed, during the parliamentary session, by the
MPs who left other parliamentary parties. The percentage
of the fans of the Facebook pages – the supporters of the
political party – is of 0.87% from the total number of the
Facebook users in Romania being over 18 years old.
Relating to the Facebook groups supporting the NUPR, we
find that the total number is of 13 discussion groups,
summing 5,415 members. These percentages emphasize that
the NUPR is a group that did not receive the popular vote
and does not have the reputation and the reliability of
the other parties in the Parliament of Romania yet.
However, we note that the degree of the online support for
the party is greater than the one of the Conservative
Party and of the Democratic Union of Hungarians in
Romania.
Political party |
% Groups |
% Members |
% Pages |
%
Fans |
Avarage |
Mandates |
% polit. Config. |
PD-L |
20,37% |
19,04% |
25,5% |
38,5% |
25,85% |
166 |
32,96% |
PSD* |
12,99% |
51,68% |
25,5% |
32,5% |
30,67% |
163 |
33,62% |
PNL |
44,44% |
21,03% |
37 % |
18% |
30,12% |
93 |
18,65% |
PC* |
5,55% |
1,26% |
7% |
4% |
4,45% |
- |
- |
UDMR |
4,62% |
0,63% |
3% |
0,2% |
2,11% |
18 |
6,28% |
UNPR |
12,03% |
6,36% |
2% |
6,8% |
6,80% |
- |
- |
Table no 3 – The participation
supporters of the political parties on the social networks related to their
electoral support
* The two parties ran into an electoral alliance in the 2008 parliamentary
elections.
Figure 5 – The Facebook Groups of the
political parties and their members as percentages
From the chart below we see that the
Liberal Democratic Party has fewer Facebook groups than
the Social Democratic Party and the difference is that the
SDP has groups with much more members than the ones of the
DLP (over 50% of the total number of members of all the
Facebook groups under study). The Liberal National Party
has the most Facebook support groups, almost 45% of the
total number of the groups under study, but we note that
they are groups with few active members.
From the chart below we see that both the Social Democratic Party
and the Liberal Democratic Party have an equal number of Facebook support pages,
but the total number of members is 6 percent higher for the Liberal Democrats.
The Liberal National Party has the most Facebook pages, but the total number of
fans is much smaller, 18%, compared to 32.5% respectively 38.5%, as of the other
two political parties mentioned above.
Figure 6 – The Facebook pages of the
political parties and their fans as percentages
From the chart below we see that, even if the DLP and the SDP –
CP came into Parliament with a noticeably equal number of parliamentary
mandates, the participation of the supporters of the Alliance on Facebook is
about 10 percent higher than the one of the Liberal Democratic Party. Even if
the Liberal National Party had a rate of about 20% in the 2008 parliamentary
elections, we find that the participation of the supporters of the political
party on Facebook is of 30%, with more than 4 percent over the activity of the
Liberal Democratic Party supporters in the Social Media. The DUHR has a very low
participation of the supporters of the political party in the Social Media –
only 2%.
Figure 7 – The average Facebook
participation of the political parties and the political configuration of
the Parliament
9. Conclusions
The parliamentary parties in Romania do not use all the social
networks. There are also political parties, among which we can mention the
Liberal Democratic Party (the winner of the parliamentary elections in 2008)
which do not use any social network (only the discussion forum), on their
official website, in order to promote their image and their political messages
or for interaction with the supporters of the political party. The same applies
to the National Union for the Progress of Romania.
Even if the political configuration has changed in the Parliament of Romania,
in point of the number of parliamentary seats, the configuration remains
approximately the same in point of percentage, as in 2008, the percentage of the
political party supporters on Facebook is equal to the electoral situation in
the 2008 parliamentary elections.
The political parties, which have exploited the benefits of promoting their
image and political messages by means of the social networks, have enjoyed the
active participation of their supporters on Facebook. These ones have initiated
discussion groups and online communities, and have actively supported the
efforts of the parties. In the case of the Social Democratic Party and the
National Liberal Party we notice a percentage of participation of the fans in
the Facebook social network higher than the „score” obtained in the 2008
parliamentary elections or even higher than the actual percentage of
representation in the Parliament.
Beyond this, we must take into consideration the fact that regardless of the
smaller number of supporters on Facebook compared to the number of the real
voters, the users initiating causes or online discussion groups are very
influential opinion leaders, not only in the online but in the real world also.
The political parties must take into account that as long as they manage to keep
them – the opinion leaders of social networks – close, the degree of influence
of the political message will increase proportionally with the number of the
opinion leaders on Facebook. This will „revive” the old communication model
developed by Paul Lazarsfeld in 1955, called the „two-step flow of
communication”. This theory showed that the opinion leaders are, in fact, the
ones who affect the interpretation of the media messages. In other words, the
media message is not directly interpreted by the public, but mediated through
interpersonal communication and the contact with the opinion leaders. In fact,
this is the great „revolution” of the Social Media: the interaction.
REFERENCES
BECIU, Camelia, Sociologia comunicării şi a spaţiului public, Editura
Polirom, Iaşi, 2011.
BĂDĂU, Horia Mihai, Tehnici de comunicare în Social Media, Editura
Polirom, Iaşi, 2011.
TASENŢE, Tănase, Ciacu, Nicoleta, Contributiile Social Networks in
reconfigurarea socialului din Romania, Analele Universitatii „Dunarea de Jos”
din Galati, Fascicula XX, an V, 2010, nr. 5, ISSN 1842-6492, Editura Galati
University Press.
http://www.socialbakers.com
http://www.facebrands.ro
http://www.etiquettes.ro/marketing/facebook-hi5-si-twitter-raman-preferatele-romanilor-amatori-de-internet/
http://www.alegeri.tv/alegeri-parlamentare-uninominale-2008
http://www.internetworldstats.com/europa.htm
NOTE
1 Camelia
Beciu , Sociologia comunicării şi a spaţiului public (Iaşi:
Polirom, 2011), 281.
2 Camelia Beciu , Sociologia
comunicării şi a spaţiului public (Iaşi: Polirom, 2011), 281-282.
3 Horia Mihai Bădău, Tehnici de
comunicare în Social Media (Iaşi: Polirom, 2011), 25.
4 O’Reilly, Tim, O’Relly Media, 2003,
apud. Horia Mihai Bădău, Tehnici de comunicare în Social Media
(Iaşi: Polirom, 2011), 25.
11 Tănase Tasenţe, Nicoleta Ciacu,
„Contributiile Social Networks in reconfigurarea socialului din Romania”,
Analele Universitatii „Dunarea de Jos” din Galati, Fascicula XX, 5 (2010):
185-186.
12 Sali Emruli, Tahir Zejneli, Florin
Agai, „Facebook and political communication – Macedonian case” ,
International Journal of Computer Science Issues, 4(2011): 451-459.
TĂNASE TASENŢE - Asist. univ.
drd. Universitatea „Andrei Șaguna” din Constanța.
NICOLETA CIACU - Asist. univ. drd.
Universitatea „Constantin Brîncoveranul” din Brăila.
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