Survey of Female Legislators Social Media Use: A Preliminary Report

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1 Survey of Female Legislators Social Media Use: A Preliminary Report Women in Parliaments Global Forum (WIP) Facebook Harvard Kennedy School s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy WIP Global Summit 2016 Amman, Jordan May 4-6, 2016

2 Survey of Female Legislators Social Media Use: A Preliminary Report Bringing women into politics has been shown to bring about positive change, not only for women but for society as a whole. Yet, women in politics face special challenges. Some of these challenges, like childrearing responsibilities, are personal in nature. Other challenges are cultural in nature, owing to age- old traditions that deny women equal political standing. Although female politicians have made demonstrable progress in recent decades, they still lack political parity with their male counterparts. Changes in the media can accelerate gender parity. The digital age has brought with it tools that can empower women. Whereas the traditional media exhibit many of the gender biases found in society as a whole, the newer media provide women with ways to make their voices heard more fully. Of course, the newer media are not without their own biases, most notably in the digital divide the gap between richer and poorer societies and individuals. Nevertheless, the newer media have created unprecedented opportunities for historically disadvantaged groups, including women. To examine these opportunities in the context of the work of female legislators, Women in Parliaments is conducting a member survey in partnership with Facebook and the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University s Kennedy School of Government. The survey includes a range of questions about female parliamentarians and their use of traditional and newer media. The survey is still underway, with responses to be collected until summer, at which time a full report will be prepared. This preliminary report aims simply to describe a few of the major findings to date.

3 Social Media Use Nearly 90 percent of the female parliamentarians in our sample make use of social media in one way or another in their political work. Of these legislators, roughly two- thirds (66 percent) have a political website that is linked to their social media accounts, but only about a third (36 percent) maintain a blog. Most respondents use a hands on approach to social media. Although a small proportion (8 percent) delegate the management of their social media largely to staff members, nearly all female legislators personally manage their social media (47 percent) or divide the effort somewhat evenly between themselves and staff (45 percent). This management pattern is consistent across age groups, indicating that female legislators devote close personal attention to social media. Most female legislators have a degree of confidence in their ability to use social media effectively. Although only a fifth of respondents (22 percent) judge themselves to be very knowledgeable in the use of social media, roughly half (55 percent) claim to be somewhat knowledgeable. However, as can be seen in figure 1, the proficiency level varies by age. Among respondents who are 50 years- of- age or younger, nearly four in ten claim to be very knowledgeable about social media use, compared with less than two in ten among those 50 years- of- age or older. Moreover, more than a fourth of those over 50 say are not at all knowledgeable or only slightly knowledgeable about social media use, compared with a mere sixth of their younger colleagues. The proficiency difference is reflected in respondents social media followers. Whereas the younger group averages 6,000 Twitter followers and 8,000 Facebook followers, the older group averages only 3,250 Twitter followers and 6,000 Facebook followers.1 Most female parliamentarians use several social media tools. Facebook is by far the most popular 93 percent of female parliamentarians use Facebook in their political work (see figure 2). Two- thirds 1 The author is indebted to Harvard Kennedy School student Sarah Zhang for providing the age breakdowns discussed in this paragraph and displayed in Figure 1.

4 of Facebook users use it daily, while another fifth use it at least several times weekly. One respondent noted that Facebook has enabled her to dramatically increase her public profile: My projects became known because of Facebook. One of the biggest projects my area received was a road project. And as a sign of my appreciation I posted a picture wherein I was lying on the middle of that particular road. It reached the Office of the President and my post was featured in the President s last State of the Nation Address. But all of that was because I [handle and manage] my Facebook account. Constituents appreciate it more if you handle your accounts personally. SMS, though declining in use, is an important tool for many female parliamentarians 69 percent claim to do at least some texting. The frequency of Twitter use is nearly identical to that of SMS. YouTube has fewer users (53 percent), and most of them use it only sporadically. WhatsApp and Instagram are newer social media and are growing in popularity. Among our respondents, 54 percent say they use WhatsApp and 29 percent say they use Instagram. Target Audiences Unlike traditional media, social media are versatile. They can be used for one- way or two- way communication and can be directed at selected audiences. For the average citizen, social media provide a way to stay in touch with family and friends. For the politician, they are a path to many constituencies, everyone from voters to reporters. The lawmakers in our survey were asked about the relative importance of the various audiences they might seek to reach through social media. What emerged was the picture of a multi- audience outreach strategy, with some audiences at the center of that strategy and others on the periphery. In the context of campaigns, no audience looms larger than the voters upon whom female lawmakers depend for support (see Figure 3). The vast majority of our respondents say the voters who support me are a very important (59 percent) or somewhat important (32 percent) audience when

5 campaigning. Campaign workers rank nearly at the same level. On the other hand, undecided voters, though an important audience, do not rank as highly. For most of our respondents, the social media strategy during campaigns focuses on holding onto their base of support and keeping their campaign workers informed and motivated. Campaigns elites are also a social media audience for female parliamentarians but rank lower in priority. A third or less of our respondents say that news reporters or other politicians in my party are a very important part of their social media campaign effort. Political opponents rank even lower. Although the opposition is often central to candidates traditional media strategy, it is not at the core of their social media strategy, which focuses more on the we than on the them. The we also dominates social media strategy while in the legislature. When respondents were asked about the importance of various audiences in the context of your work in the legislature, the voters who support me again emerge as the primary target (see Figure 4). Interestingly, campaign workers remain a highly important audience during the legislative session. Staying in touch with the people who are instrumental in the campaign is a priority for most female legislators. For them, the next campaign is always a pressing concern. News reporters are a more important audience for female lawmakers in the legislative context than in the campaign context. Other politicians in my party are also more important in the legislative context. Even so, they are not a large part of most women legislator s communication strategy. It could be a missed opportunity an area where training in the use of social media would be warranted, as would training in how best to build closer

6 relationships with journalists during campaigns. Only a third of our respondents say that news reporters are a very important audience during the campaign. Facebook vs. Twitter Although WhatsApp and Instagram are gaining in popularity, Facebook and Twitter are the primary tools in our respondents social media strategies. How do Facebook and Twitter compare? Is one better than the other for a particular activity? To assess that question, we asked respondents who use both Facebook and Twitter to rate their relative effectiveness across a range of activities. Facebook was judged the superior instrument in nearly every category (see Figure 5). Facebook s perceived advantage is greatest in terms of letting people know who I m like as a person, in recruiting volunteers, and in raising funds two thirds or more of our respondents gave Facebook the edge in each of these activities. In addition, half or more placed Facebook ahead of Twitter as a tool through which to respond to comments, see what people are thinking, and publicize my political activities and events. There was only one activity criticizing opponents where Twitter edged out Facebook. Of course, social media can be used in tandem. A sophisticated social media strategy would take advantage of the differing strengths and capacities of the available tools. In fact, most female legislators avail themselves of two or more social media. As one respondent said, I have connected my Twitter account to my Facebook account, such that everything I post on Twitter is automatically transferred to Facebook. It makes my work easier because then I don t post new things on Facebook. I only respond to comments.

7 Respondents who claimed to be not sure about whether Facebook or Twitter was more effective for a particular activity are not included in Figure 5. The number of not sure responses varied widely across the different activities and can be taken as an indicator of the degree to which legislators are not using social media to their full potential. Fundraising is at the top of the not sure list (see Figure 6), with a majority of our respondents expressing uncertainty about the best tool for that activity. The recruitment of volunteers ranks second. Viewed prescriptively, female legislators would appear to benefit from training that would help them discover how best to attract election resources money and workers. Social Media vs. Traditional Media Social media have not replaced traditional media in the world of politics. Both media channels can be a key to a successful political career, and our survey sought to assess their relative advantages. Most of our respondents say that, although they find both forms of media helpful in their work, they prize social media more highly. Nine out of ten of our respondents say that social media are very helpful to me in my work, compared with the less than seven out of ten who say that of traditional media. Perhaps surprisingly, the responses were nearly identical when respondents were asked about their campaign efforts and when they were asked about their legislative efforts. Female legislators preference for social media is explained by their belief in its comparative advantages over traditional media. As can be seen in Figure 7, our respondents rate social media more highly than traditional media for nearly all their political needs: promoting their issue positions,

8 engaging the public, creating a positive image, and discovering what the public is thinking. As one respondent said, [Social media] can help a lot to publicize activities and your messages, even if the traditional media don t give you space. Only in one area criticizing political opponents were traditional media seen to be as effective a tool as are social media.

9 Looking Ahead This preliminary report has only touched the surface of what our final report will cover. In addition to asking respondents about social and traditional media, our survey includes questions relating to respondents position within their party s hierarchy, mode of election, campaign funding, ideology, motivations, aspirations, education level, family situation, age, income level, and occupation. Supplementing the survey data will be data provided by Facebook on respondents actual Facebook activity. The survey data will also be supplemented by country- specific data on variables such as the status of women, level of wealth, and extent of Internet penetration. The full data set will allow us to control for a host of factors affecting female legislators use of social media. We expect, for example, that mode of election whether a legislator is chosen through a party list system or a single- member district system will affect both the level of a female legislator s social media activity and her targeted audiences. Once such patterns are known, we will be positioned to offer precise recommendations on how training and information sharing can help female parliamentarians better utilize social media. This report was written by Thomas E. Patterson, who is Bradlee Professor of Government and the Press at Harvard University and Interim Director of the Harvard Kennedy School s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy. Patterson also took the lead in designing our survey of female legislators, assisted by Aretha Francis, Women in Parliaments Communications and Advocacy Manager, and Katie Harbath, Head of Facebook's Politics & Government Outreach Team.