Interest groups and social media in the age of the Twitter president

ABSTRACT

There is a burgeoning literature on how political engagement has changed as a result of social media. The research on interest groups and social media, however, has primarily focused on describing the extent to which traditional interest groups have joined popular social networking sites, with less focus on how this new media has led to the creation of new interest groups and influenced policy change. This essay reviews the literature on the relationship between interest groups and social media while proposing some ways to move the research agenda forward. There is a particular need for research that seeks to explain how interest groups use social media to influence policy and engage with stakeholders.

KEYWORDS:

• Communication
• interest groups
• political participation
• social media
• social movement

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Insider strategies include direct interactions with policymakers, such as meeting with members of Congress and/or their staff, testifying before agencies or legislative committees, and commenting on regulation (Kollman 1998).