Taylor & Francis Group
Browse
1/1
2 files

Social networks and digital organisation: far right parties at the 2019 Australian federal election

dataset
posted on 2020-04-29, 12:39 authored by Jordan McSwiney

This paper analyses the social media networks and content of four Australian parties, assessing their relationship to the far right at the time of the 2019 Australian federal election. Using social network analysis, I map their relationship to a broader network of far-right actors in Australia on Facebook and Twitter, identifying pathways of communication, mobilisation and recruitment. The structure of the parties’ networks points to highly centralised, leader-centric organisations, placing them in a vulnerable position in terms of sustainability. This is combined with qualitative content analysis, which finds little evidence of party organisation or campaign mobilisation on either platform, despite the context of a first-order election. Instead, these parties use social media primarily for the construction of collective identities and the development and dissemination of interpretive frames, practices typically associated with social movements rather than political parties.

Funding

This work was supported by the Australian National University’s Herbert and Valmae Frielich Project early career research small grants scheme.

History

Usage metrics

    Information, Communication& Society

    Licence

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC