Negativity in a Twitter Age: How Politicians are Adapting to Social Media

Abstract

This study investigates negative campaigning and issue preferences as reflected in the use of Twitter posts released during the 2011-2012 presidential primaries. Negative political campaigning and policy-centered voting have become more prevalent in recent years, especially with the advent of the Internet and the subsequent increase in media sources such as blogs and social media platforms. Because voters use the Internet more than ever, it is important to study the types of material candidates disseminate to the public and the degree of negativity included in such content. Findings indicate that runner-up candidates were not more likely to use negativity in tweets in our sample.