The Impact of Tweeting on Electoral Outcomes

• In Event: Politicians' Use of Social Media

Abstract

The usage of Twitter by members of Congress has been studied for over a decade now with growing sophistication. While we have a good sense of how the platform is used in the daily routines of MCs, particularly concerning how they achieve their goal of representing a constituency, we still lack an understanding of a fundamental question: what does all this tweeting get you? Using over 3 million tweets from the 116th and 117th Congresses, I examine whether members who tweet more frequently, tweet about specific events, or tweet about certain topics outperform their colleagues on the political outcomes of fundraising, electoral performance, and institutional power within Congress. Using granular time-series data, I show how members adjust their communication strategies to meet their political goals. The findings have implications for how we understand the role of platforms in politics and add to our understanding as Twitter, the most prominent platform in Congressional communication, undergoes changes.

Author

• Benjamin Burnley, Georgetown University