Working Paper: NBER ID: w30306
Authors: Pedro Bessone; Filipe R. Campante; Claudio Ferraz; Pedro Souza
Abstract: We study the relationship between the spread of social media platforms and the communication and responsiveness of politicians towards voters, in the context of the expansion of Facebook in Brazil. We use self-collected data on the universe of Facebook activities by federal legislators and the variation in access induced by the spread of the 3G mobile phone network to establish three sets of findings: (i) Politicians use social media extensively to communicate with constituents, finely targeting localities while addressing policy-relevant topics; (ii) They increase their online engagement, especially with places where they have a large pre-existing vote share; but (iii) They shift their offline engagement (measured by speeches and earmarked transfers) away from connected municipalities within their base of support. Our results suggest that, rather than increasing responsiveness, social media may enable politicians to solidify their position with core supporters using communication strategies, while shifting resources away towards localities that lag in social media presence.
Keywords: Social Media; Political Behavior; Facebook; Brazil; Politicians; Responsiveness
JEL Codes: D72; H72; L86; L96
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| increased access to Facebook (D16) | diminished offline accountability (D16) |
| increased access to Facebook (D16) | strategic use of social media to reinforce existing voter bases (K16) |
| increased access to Facebook (D16) | electoral losses in subsequent elections (K16) |
| increased online communication by politicians (D72) | decrease in offline engagement (D16) |
| increased online communication by politicians (D72) | reduced earmarked transfers to municipalities (H70) |
| 3G mobile internet rollout (L96) | increased access to Facebook (D16) |
| increased access to Facebook (D16) | increase in online communication by politicians (D72) |