A Functional Analysis of 2016 Nonpresidential Campaign Tweets

Abstract

A functional analysis was conducted on 2016 candidate tweets in races for governor, U.S. Senate, and U.S. House. The 2016 presidential campaign left no doubt that Twitter has come of age as a campaign medium. Because this form of communication is relatively new, we know relatively little about it. Tweets and retweets combined used acclaims more than attacks. Tweets used more acclaims, and fewer attacks, than retweets. Incumbent candidates acclaimed more, and attacked less, than challengers. These campaign messages addressed character slightly more than policy. Tweets acclaimed more than they attacked when addressing general goals and ideals. Incumbents (compared with challengers) were more likely to acclaim, and less likely to attack, when discussing past deeds. With the exception of topic (about the same number of policy and character comments) these findings reflect other campaign message forms.