Politikers användande av Twitter
En studie av relationen mellan privata och offentliga samtal i den sociala sfären
Quantitative content analysisSocial mediaTwitterPoliticsPublic sphereSocial sphereKvantitativ innehållsanalysSociala medierTwitterPolitikOffentlig sfärSocial sfär
This study?s aim was to explore how the social media Twitter is used by Swedish political leaders and how they manage the relationship between having both private and public conversations in a new public sphere, the social sphere. In Sweden, studies in this area are yet to grow. We achieved our aim by responding to our three questions at the issue: What kind of content is published in each of the politicians Twitter stream? Are the politicians private or public persons on Twitter? Are the politicians using Twitters interactive functions? We conducted our analysis by performing a quantitative content analysis. Our material consisted of Twits published by two selected Swedish politicians between September 1st to September 23rd, 2010. We based our study and results around the discussion of private, public and social spheres along with political communication.