Introduction to attention-based politics
Introduction to attention-based politics

Summary/Abstract: This study introduces a new tendency in political communication that starts from the politicians’ use of Twitter and Facebook. Representatives have to realize that they are in an environment where celebrities can attract, maximize, and direct the attention of followers. Politicians will do just the same. The communication techniques used set the focus of analysis on attention-based politics. The most visible part of Donald Trump’s election campaign will be used as an example, in order to demonstrate this speciality of political communication. The main findings of the study support the idea that the new ICTs will not revolutionize political communication because what we are seeing is a ‘spectacular’ development, an adaption to the information environment, where the process is sometimes faster, at other times slower. This creates the feeling that what has functioned well in political communication in the past few years is now becoming obsolete.

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