Since 2007, social media has been an integral part of Danish election campaigns. From its humble beginnings, when Anders Fogh Rasmussen invited his Facebook friends for a run in the Dyrehaven, social media has evolved into a fully integrated and domesticated aspect of the population's media landscape during election campaigns. For politicians, a presence on social media is now indispensable, while both communication and target group targeting have become professionalized. A significant portion of campaign budgets is now allocated to social media.
Today, strategic political communication on social media relies heavily on target group segmentation based on big data. The content is often tailored to align with algorithms' logic for visibility and popularity. While this development reflects the broader digitalization of society, it also raises critical questions about the role of data and algorithms in citizens' daily lives, particularly in the political public sphere and the foundation of democracy as we know it.
The project initially focused on analyzing and publishing data from a questionnaire survey, with a focus on the 2022 general election (FV22) in comparison to four previous elections. The longitudinal perspective of the project is rooted in time series analyses of social media usage from 2007 to 2022.
This data offers a unique insight into and overview of citizens' relationship with social media in the context of political communication. It also supports further studies on the paradox between the ongoing intensive use of social media and the public's lack of trust in these platforms, as documented in previous research.
An article on effects is being published in Scandinavian Political Studies.
An article on political participation will be published in 2025 in a handbook on election studies by De Gruyter.
An article based on data from five Danish elections will be included in 25 Years of Internet Elections, edited by Jakob Linaa Jensen, and published by Palgrave in 2025.
