Theorizing Social Media, Parties, and Political Inequalities

Abstract

The role of social media—often called Web 2.0—has been addressed in a growing number of studies, studies that often build on the literature regarding politics and Web 1.0 (Gibson & McAllister, 2014; Schweitzer, 2011; Vergeer, Hermans, & Sams, 2013). Indeed, the central debate in both the earlier and the most recent literature is whether or not new web technologies influence the power balance between parties. By now this question has been puzzling scholars for almost 20 years (Castells, 1996; Cornfield, 2005; Gibson & McAllister, 2014; Gibson & Römmele, 2001; Jackson & Lilleker, 2011; Margolis, Resnick, & Wolfe, 1999; Negroponte, 1995; Schweitzer, 2011; Sudulich & Wall, 2010; Vaccari, 2008). Some suggest that new technologies, such as social media, level the playing field and redistribute the power in favor of previously disadvantaged parties—equalization (e.g., Gibson & McAllister, 2011). Others espouse that new technologies merely reinforce existing inequalities—normalization (e.g., Jackson & Lilleker, 2011). Most recently, Gibson and McAllister (2014) suggested that equalization occurs first (Stage I), then normalization (Stage II).