From Marginalized to Mainstream? An International Comparative Analysis of Gender Differences in Social Media Adoption and Activity by Politicians in Non-Election Times

Abstract

Traditional media and party gatekeepers are found to restrict women's visibility and influence in politics. Social media, however, is seen as a potential means for women to overcome these obstacles, potentially leveling the playing field in politics. This study introduces two novel elements to the ongoing discussion by focusing on non-electoral periods and taking into account the contextual factor of political power for women. We analyze Twitter/X usage among 1246 MPs in four countries (Finland, Belgium, Germany, and Ireland) with varying political power scores for women throughout 2022. Contrary to our expectations, logistic and negative binomial regression models show no significant differences in Twitter/X adoption or activity between male and female politicians, or across countries. These results suggest that while social media does not significantly increase female politicians’ visibility, it also does not worsen existing communication disparities, indicating a potential stabilizing effect on gender inequalities in political communication.