ABSTRACT
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are rarely a subject of study, and when studied it is normally during elections (Jankowski, et al., 2005; Lilleker et al., 2011; Maier et al., 2011) or in studies which examine their adoption of innovations in communication (Elvebakk, 2004) and specific aspects of their usage (Tomkova, 2009). Consistent with trends in the study of the role of electronic and digital political communication, this study not only analyzes adoption but focuses on determining the strategic function of the websites and social networking profiles of online MEPs elected in 2009. MEPs are unique in that they are all equally resourced, thus the typically highlighted reasons for differentials in communication strategy should not apply; hence we seek to discover the extent to which national or personal variables act as key differentiators in strategy. We therefore focus on explaining adoption and strategic usage, focusing discussion around the extent to which there are clear explanatory factors beyond the normalization or equalization debate or whether, within parliaments, we find an ebb and flow of innovation which cuts across personal and political variables.
