Facebook Politics: Toward a Process Model for Achieving Political Source Credibility Through Social Media

Abstract

The last two election cycles have seen an exponential rise in the number of political campaigns integrating some form of social media into their communication plans. As candidates and campaigns increase their social media communications, political communication scholars have become increasingly interested in the process through which voters assess political candidates’ credibility through social networking sites. Using experimental data, this study examines the mediating role of attitude homophily in establishing political candidates’ source credibility among Facebook users. A multiple mediation model outlines a process wherein attitude homophily mediates the relationship between political cues and evaluations of source credibility. Theoretical and practical implications of the results for political social media campaigns are discussed.