ABSTRACT
Social media are increasingly revolutionising the ways in which political communication works, and their importance for engaging citizens in politics and public affairs is well understood by political actors. This book surveys current developments in social media and politics in a range of Central and Eastern European countries, including Ukraine and Russia. It explores the process of adoption of social media by politicians, journalists and civic activists, examines the impact of the different social and cultural backgrounds of the countries studied, and discusses specific political situations, such as the 2012 protests in Moscow and the 2014 EuroMaidan events in Ukraine, where social media played an important role. The book concludes by addressing how the relationship between social media and politics is likely to develop and how it might affect the still relatively new democracies in the region.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
chapter |19 pages
Introduction
part I|100 pages
Political parties, actors and social media
chapter 1|24 pages
Who is afraid of the platforms?
chapter 2|19 pages
The 2014 presidential elections campaign in Romania
chapter 3|17 pages
Towards self-mediatization of politics
chapter 4|20 pages
Personalization of political communication in social media
chapter 5|19 pages
Professionalization and intentional disengagement
part II|85 pages
Social movements, interest and professional groups and social media