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Top1. Introduction
Although political parties and their affiliated politicians may have often reacted slowly in grasping and adopting technological developments, they are gradually recognising the importance that online technologies have and the opportunities and challenges they may give rise to. An example of this can be seen in Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and the way social media were utilised (Luck, Beaton, & Moffatt, 2010; Sevin, Kimball, & Khalil, 2011). Having a web site and organising a page on Facebook, which were considered an innovation just a few years ago, are now becoming an essential ingredient of any campaign, as they enable not only the promotion of the candidate, but also more active engagement with voters. Undertaken effectively, online campaigning can yield great returns. Undertaken poorly, it can backfire, creating irreversible damage to a candidate’s profile. It is not unusual to come across web sites, blogs, Facebook pages and other online spaces created just for the sake of campaigning, signalling to visitors the lack of real interest in and understanding of such technologies by the candidates. Such late efforts would have a limited impact.
This work’s main research objective is to study how politicians use their Internet presence (e.g. their web sites and social media) to engage with citizens during different circumstances. More specifically, the research questions it sets out to answer are firstly what is the perceived significance of establishing an online presence for politicians and what are the motivating and hindering factors for doing so, secondly what is the role of social media within the context of a politician’s online presence, thirdly how do politicians form their online presence strategies and how do they plan and implement their engagement plans and finally, how are online technologies, and in particular social media, used during ‘normal’ circumstances, extreme circumstances (e.g. political and financial unrest) and while campaigning? The paper will continue with a review of the relevant literature, before discussing the methodology adopted and the research process followed. It will then present the results and key findings, which will be discussed from both a theoretical and practical perspective.