Social media as an agenda-setting instrument in local politics

Abstract

This article contributes to the litera ture on political agen da-setting on social mediain the local context. Using interviews with local politicians in northern Norway, wediscuss local politicians’ use of soci al media for agenda-setting in between electionsfrom an agency perspective. We ask whether local politicians seek to promote andcontrol the definition of an issue on social media, and whether local politicians areinfluenced by citizens’ opinions on these platforms. We find that local politiciansdo take advantage of social media in the agenda-setting process, both for problemdefinition and to sell their ideas. Our findings reveal that local politicians use socialmedia to bypass traditional media for political messaging and that they are sensitiveto public opinion on Facebook. Furthermore, there is evidence in our study of onlinedebates brought into formal policymaking processes.