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Is Social Media Transforming Canadian Electioneering? Hybridity and Online Partisan Strategies in the 2012 Quebec Election

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2019

Thierry Giasson ,
Gildas Le Bars  and
Philippe Dubois
Thierry Giasson*
Affiliation:
Département de science politique, Université Laval 1030, avenue des Sciences-Humaines Québec, QC G1V0A6
Gildas Le Bars
Affiliation:
Groupe de recherche en communication politique, Université Laval 1030, avenue des Sciences-Humaines Québec, QC G1V0A6
Philippe Dubois
Affiliation:
Département de science politique, Université Laval 1030, avenue des Sciences-Humaines Québec, QC G1V0A6
*
*Corresponding author. Email: thierry.giasson@pol.ulaval.ca
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Abstract

This article investigates the extent to which provincial political parties made use of social media in their strategy, organization and communication in order to achieve their electoral goals during the Quebec 2012 general election. Using data from a series of 19 interviews conducted with online strategists and campaign directors from the five leading parties active in the 2012 election, we identify the strategic objectives these organizations followed when developing their social media campaigns. The strategists' narratives reveal that social media became a central component of electioneering and that parties were carrying out, in various forms, hybrid campaigns that combined traditional and emergent communication technologies and employed both old and new types of organizational principles.

Résumé

Cet article examine dans quelle mesure les partis politiques provinciaux ont inclus les médias sociaux dans leur stratégie, l'organisation et la communication de campagne pour atteindre leurs objectifs lors des élections générales de 2012 au Québec. À l'aide des données provenant d'une série de 19 entrevues menées auprès de stratèges et de directeurs de campagne des cinq principaux partis lors de l'élection de 2012, nous relevons les objectifs stratégiques poursuivis par ces derniers dans l'élaboration de leurs campagnes numériques. Les propos des stratèges révèlent que les médias sociaux sont devenus un élément central de l'organisation électorale et que les partis menaient, sous diverses formes, des campagnes hybrides dans lesquelles les technologies de communication traditionnelles et émergentes ainsi que d'anciens et de nouveaux types de principes organisationnels étaient combinés.

Keywords

Politique en ligneQuébecStratégiesÉlectionsMédias socionumériquesHybriditéOnline politicsQuebecStrategiesElectionsSocial MediaHybridization
Type
Research Article/Étude originale
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 52 , Issue 2 , June 2019 , pp. 323 - 341
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 2019 

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