Leaning toward social media-based campaigning? Political communication online in Poland during the 2018 regional elections

Abstract

The digitalisation of political communication has played a crucial role in campaigns on both national and regional levels. For many political candidates in Poland, Facebook has become the primary tool for building a successful campaign. However, campaigns for elections to regional government bodies are often associated with traditional offline media, outdoor advertising and ubiquitous leaflets. The aim of this paper is to contribute to our knowledge of electoral communications in Poland from the regional perspective. Data gathered during the 2018 online campaign for the Lower Silesian Regional Assembly examined through a semiautomated content analysis uncovered the dynamics of the professionalisation of Polish political communication and identified predictors of Facebook adoption for electoral purposes among regional candidates. Furthermore, focusing solely on Facebook data, research revealed a tendency toward the normalisation of social media campaigning and a propensity for using mobilisation communication strategies. Taken together, this paper provides new insights into the study of political campaigning in Central and Eastern Europe on social media from the perspective of political actor.