Political Communication via Social Media
Future Forward Party’s Message Appeals and Media Format Usage on Facebook and Twitter and Links to Political Participation of Generation Z Audiences
Keywords:
Political communication, Online communication, Social media, Political participation, Future Forward Party, Generation ZAbstract
Thailand’s 2019 general election has been regarded as the first time for the country to have news media, especially social media, as one of the crucial communication tools for a political campaign (Kongkeerati 2018 and 2019). Future Forward Party rapidly grabbed the most attention from Thai social media users, especially first-time voters who are mainly Generation Z (Gen Z), born in 1996 – 2000. In the meantime, Thai youth political enthusiasm sprung up since this party became popular. The present study investigates how Future Forward Party communicated with Gen Z receivers via online platforms and whether the party’s online contents link to GenZers’ political participation. The research methodology divides into two parts; textual analysis and in-depth interview. Both methods employ the same time frame, March 21st, 2019 – March 21st, 2020), which is separated into two periods – before the party was dissolved (March 21st, 2019 – February 21st, 2019) and after the party discontinued (February 21st, 2020 – March 21st, 2020). The textual analysis retrieved data from Future Forward’s 40 most famous Facebook posts and Twitter tweets, while 22 Gen-Z informants, who were eligible for the General Election in 2019, imparted data to us via in-depth interviews. The results indicate that the Future Forward Party uses a combination of rational and emotional appeals in their Facebook posts and Twitter tweets. The party also introduces multiple presentational formats to online contents and even increases the variety after it disbanded. Furthermore, in-depth interviews with GenZ audiences signal that the party’s online communication influenced their political participation.
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Interviews
Anonymous Informant A, University Student, 23 Years Old, Interview on April 18, 2020.
Anonymous Informant B, University Student, 22 Years Old, Interview on April 25, 2020.
Anonymous Informant C, Private Company Employee, 22 Years Old, Interview on April 22, 2020.
Anonymous Informant D, Private Company Employee, 23 Years Old, Interview on April 17, 2020.
Anonymous Informant E, University Student, 22 Years Old, Interview on April 10, 2020.
Anonymous Informant F, University Student, 22 Years Old, Interview on April 11, 2020.
Anonymous Informant G, University Student, 19 Years Old, Interview on April 16, 2020.
Anonymous Informant H, University Student, 21 Years Old, Interview on April 8, 2020.
Anonymous Informant I, Unemployed, 22 Years Old, Interview on April 15, 2020.
Anonymous Informant J, University Student, 20 Years Old, Interview on April 12, 2020.
Anonymous Informant K, University Student, 22 Years Old, Interview on April 18, 2020.
Anonymous Informant L, University Student, 23 Years Old, Interview on April 14, 2020.
Anonymous Informant M, University Student, 20 Years Old, Interview on April 12, 2020.
Anonymous Informant N, University Student, 23 Years Old, Interview on April 13, 2020.
Anonymous Informant O, University Student, 21 Years Old, Interview on April 11, 2020.
Anonymous Informant P, University Student, 23 Years Old, Interview on April 20, 2020.
Anonymous Informant Q, University Student, 19 Years Old, Interview on April 29, 2020.
Anonymous Informant R, University Student, 22 Years Old, Interview on April 30, 2020.
Anonymous Informant S, University Student, 21 Years Old, Interview on April 27, 2020.
Anonymous Informant T, University Student, 21 Years Old, Interview on April 27, 2020.
Anonymous Informant U, University Student, 20 Years Old, Interview on April 28, 2020.
Anonymous Informant V, University Student, 20 Years Old, Interview on May 2, 2020.
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