# Social Politics: Agenda Setting and Political Communication on Social Media

**Authors:** Xinxin Yang, Bo-Chiuan Chen, Mrinmoy Maity, Emilio Ferrara  
**arXiv:** [1607.06819](https://arxiv.org/abs/1607.06819)  
**Date:** 2016-07-22  
**Summary page:** https://www.summarizepaper.com/en/paper/1607.06819v1/

## Key points

- The paper explores the role of social media in political communication with a focus on politicians.
- Using Twitter data and agenda-setting theory, the authors analyze over 100,000 tweets produced by U.S. President Obama and the 50 U.S. State Governors.
- The study identifies seven macro-topics of conversation and finds that Twitter is particularly appealing for American opposition politicians.
- There are differences in communication styles between Republican and Democrat Governors but both parties are similarly active on Twitter.
- Republicans form a tight core with a stronger shared agenda on many issues of discussion.
- This research sheds light on how politicians use social media to shape political discourse and influence public opinion.

## Summary

The paper "Social Politics: Agenda Setting and Political Communication on Social Media" by Xinxin Yang, Bo-Chiuan Chen, Mrinmoy Maity, and Emilio Ferrara explores the role of social media in political communication with a focus on politicians. Previous studies have investigated how individuals use social media for political discussion and mobilization; however, this research focuses on the activities of politicians themselves. Using Twitter data and agenda-setting theory to analyze over 100,000 tweets produced by U.S. President Obama and the 50 U.S. State Governors, the authors uncover the main topics of attention and interest of these actors. The study identifies seven macro-topics of conversation and finds that Twitter is particularly appealing for American opposition politicians. It also highlights differences in communication styles between Republican and Democrat Governors but notes that both parties are similarly active on Twitter. By reconstructing networks of occurrences of Governors' hashtags and keywords related to political issues, the authors observe that Republicans form a tight core with a stronger shared agenda on many issues of discussion. This research sheds light on how politicians use social media to shape political discourse and influence public opinion.