
CUREJ - College Undergraduate Research Electronic Journal
Social Media and the 2018 Midterms: An Analysis of House Candidates' Twitter Posts
Division: Social Sciences
Dept/Program: Political Science
Document Type: Undergraduate Student Research
Mentor(s): John Lapinski
Date of this Version: 26 March 2019
Abstract
To date, relatively few academic studies have analyzed congressional candidates’ use of social media in the 2018 U.S. midterm elections. This paper contributes to the literature by conducting a textual analysis of 697 House candidates’ Twitter posts from between January 1st and November 6th 2018. The study focuses on seven key issues – the economy, gun policy, healthcare, immigration, Russia, the Supreme Court, and the Trump presidency – and assesses whether there was a fundamental difference in how Democratic and Republican candidates approached each one. The paper argues that there were partisan differences in social media use and presents two potential explanations: political polarization and how each political party was confronted with unique challenges.
Discipline(s)
Political Science
Suggested Citation
Ausubel, Jacob R., "Social Media and the 2018 Midterms: An Analysis of House Candidates' Twitter Posts" 26 March 2019. CUREJ: College Undergraduate Research Electronic Journal, University of Pennsylvania, https://repository.upenn.edu/curej/229.
Date Posted: 17 May 2019