Social Media and Everyday Politics

From selfies and memes to hashtags and parodies, social media are used for mundane and personal expressions of political commentary, engagement, and participation. The coverage of politics reflects the social mediation of everyday life, where individual experiences and thoughts are documented and shared online.

In Social Media and Everyday Politics, Tim Highfield examines political talk as everyday occurrences on Twitter, Facebook, blogs, Tumblr, Instagram, and more. He considers the personal and the political, the serious and the silly, and the everyday within the extraordinary, as politics arises from seemingly banal and irreverent topics. The analysis features international examples and evolving practices, from French blogs to Vines from Australia, via the Arab Spring, Occupy, #jesuischarlie, Eurovision, #blacklivesmatter, Everyday Sexism, and #illridewithyou.

This timely book will be a valuable resource for students and scholars in media and communications, internet studies, and political science, as well as general readers keen to understand our contemporary media and political contexts

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

List of Figures

Introduction: Everyday Politics and Social Media

Chapter One: Personal/Political

Chapter Two: Political Rituals of Social Media

Chapter Three: Media Politics

Chapter Four: Breaking News, Scandals, and Crises

Chapter Five: Collective and Connective Action

Chapter Six: Partisan Politics and Politicians on Social Media

Chapter Seven: The Everyday of Elections

Conclusion: The Changing Face of Everyday Social Media and Everyday Politics

Notes

References

"Politics is personal and the personal is political. As new media platforms enhance our ability to express ourselves and connect with others, everyday politics are performed in public spheres interconnected by social media. Tim Highfield makes this abundantly clear in Social Media and Everyday Politics, a must read volume for those interested in how the language, the practice, and the meaning of political expression evolve in contemporary societies. His approach offers rich theoretical terms, methodological insight, and analytical rigor to our understanding of how social media reorganize political realities."
—Zizi Papacharissi, University of Illinois at Chicago

"This is an excellent book. It is comprehensive and up-to-date. It is a great introduction to social media in general but especially delivers handsomely on its topic of everyday politics and social media. The range of examples and cases are terrific and well-analysed. I especially like the authorial voice grounded, funny, lively, sharp.
—Gerard Goggin, University of Sydney

"Of special interest to sociology, journalism, and political science scholars, the internet studies encompassed in this book bridge the gap between these disciplines by showing the interaction among them."
—Choice

"This book is a great introduction to the everday politics of socia media, and the vibrant discussion of important issues makes it worth a read for students and scolars at any level."
—Political Studies Review

Tim Highfield is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Sessional Academic at Queensland University of Technology.