Policy Actors’ Struggle for Attention: The Role of Peer Networks in the Migration Discourse on Twitter (X)
Policy actors (PAs) like nongovernmental organizations, political parties or governmental institutions strategically communicate on social media to gain attention and thus influence the public agenda. We argue that networks of PAs engaged in the same issues (i.e., a PA’s peer network) are crucial to...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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De Gruyter
2024-08-01
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| Series: | Nonprofit Policy Forum |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/npf-2023-0126 |
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| author | Hanke Sara Sicakkan Hakan G. Van Wolleghem Pierre Georges Heiberger Raphael Heiko |
| author_facet | Hanke Sara Sicakkan Hakan G. Van Wolleghem Pierre Georges Heiberger Raphael Heiko |
| author_sort | Hanke Sara |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Policy actors (PAs) like nongovernmental organizations, political parties or governmental institutions strategically communicate on social media to gain attention and thus influence the public agenda. We argue that networks of PAs engaged in the same issues (i.e., a PA’s peer network) are crucial to attracting the interest of a broad audience. Drawing on network theory, we posit that (i) ideological homophily, and (ii) the centrality and embeddedness in a PA’s peer network increase the attention received from all Twitter (now X) users. We investigate these premises by analyzing the European migration discourse on Twitter (2014–2020). The results of our study reveal that the centrality of PAs in their peer networks and ideologically similar relations considerably increase attention from the whole Twittersphere. These findings provide strong evidence that a PA’s role in its organizational peer network on social media governs the attention received in the overall discourse. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-f0a5258ea4254c1487f3d3006c934853 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2154-3348 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-08-01 |
| publisher | De Gruyter |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nonprofit Policy Forum |
| spelling | doaj-art-f0a5258ea4254c1487f3d3006c9348532025-01-20T11:09:06ZengDe GruyterNonprofit Policy Forum2154-33482024-08-011617910910.1515/npf-2023-0126Policy Actors’ Struggle for Attention: The Role of Peer Networks in the Migration Discourse on Twitter (X)Hanke Sara0Sicakkan Hakan G.1Van Wolleghem Pierre Georges2Heiberger Raphael Heiko3Institute for Social Science, 123173University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, GermanyComparative Politics, University of Bergen, Bergen, NorwayComparative Politics, University of Bergen, Bergen, NorwayInstitute for Social Science, 123173University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, GermanyPolicy actors (PAs) like nongovernmental organizations, political parties or governmental institutions strategically communicate on social media to gain attention and thus influence the public agenda. We argue that networks of PAs engaged in the same issues (i.e., a PA’s peer network) are crucial to attracting the interest of a broad audience. Drawing on network theory, we posit that (i) ideological homophily, and (ii) the centrality and embeddedness in a PA’s peer network increase the attention received from all Twitter (now X) users. We investigate these premises by analyzing the European migration discourse on Twitter (2014–2020). The results of our study reveal that the centrality of PAs in their peer networks and ideologically similar relations considerably increase attention from the whole Twittersphere. These findings provide strong evidence that a PA’s role in its organizational peer network on social media governs the attention received in the overall discourse.https://doi.org/10.1515/npf-2023-0126twitter/x attentionmigration discoursesocial network analysishomophily |
| spellingShingle | Hanke Sara Sicakkan Hakan G. Van Wolleghem Pierre Georges Heiberger Raphael Heiko Policy Actors’ Struggle for Attention: The Role of Peer Networks in the Migration Discourse on Twitter (X) Nonprofit Policy Forum twitter/x attention migration discourse social network analysis homophily |
| title | Policy Actors’ Struggle for Attention: The Role of Peer Networks in the Migration Discourse on Twitter (X) |
| title_full | Policy Actors’ Struggle for Attention: The Role of Peer Networks in the Migration Discourse on Twitter (X) |
| title_fullStr | Policy Actors’ Struggle for Attention: The Role of Peer Networks in the Migration Discourse on Twitter (X) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Policy Actors’ Struggle for Attention: The Role of Peer Networks in the Migration Discourse on Twitter (X) |
| title_short | Policy Actors’ Struggle for Attention: The Role of Peer Networks in the Migration Discourse on Twitter (X) |
| title_sort | policy actors struggle for attention the role of peer networks in the migration discourse on twitter x |
| topic | twitter/x attention migration discourse social network analysis homophily |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1515/npf-2023-0126 |
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