Browsing by Author "Michael, Gabriel"
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
- Results Per Page
- Sort Options
Item The Bully Pulpit, Social Media, and Public Opinion: A Big Data Approach(Journal of Information Technology and Politics, 2018) Agur, Colin; Michael, GabrielIn this paper, we seek to understand the contemporary power of the presidential “bully pulpit”— the persuasive power of the nation’s highest elected office—in a context of shifting patterns of mediation. We do so by examining a major social media communication platform (Twitter) for evidence of changes in public opinion before and after President Obama’s high-profile statements on net neutrality in November 2014. This study includes novel and comprehensive data on the effects of a presidential announcement on public opinion. With social media playing a growing role in both electoral and policy discourse, this paper offers a methodological foundation for future studies in the changing nature of the presidential bully pulpit and the role of social media as a tool of mediation in political communication.