Discontentment trumps Euphoria

Author(s)
Tobias Heidenreich, Jakob-Moritz Eberl, Fabienne Lind, Hajo Boomgaarden
Abstract

We investigate user engagement with politicians’ migration discourses on social media. In particular, we study the effects of message framing and support base attitudes on interactions on Facebook and Twitter in five European countries. Enriching automated analysis of social media content with survey data in a multilevel negative binomial regression approach, findings show that migration-related messages tend to elicit more interactions than other kinds of messages. Furthermore, the presence of a security frame in a migration-related message positively relates to user engagement. However, additional analyses suggest that the relevance of these frames differ between different political parties. In fact, a message gets an even higher number of interactions, when the dimension of the migration issue included in those framed messages is perceived more negatively by a party’s support base. The findings have important implications for communication strategies of political actors and the state of migration discourses on social media.

Organisation(s)
Department of Communication
External organisation(s)
Center for Civil Society Research
Journal
New Media & Society
No. of pages
22
ISSN
1461-4448
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1177%2F14614448221074648
Publication date
02-2022
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
508007 Communication science, 508014 Journalism
Portal url
https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/discontentment-trumps-euphoria(f555265b-1158-453e-808e-f8fdee3b8182).html