The role of authenticity in electoral social media campaigns

Authenticity is a popular buzz word in electoral politics, as electoral candidates and politicians are expected to be authentic in their public interactions. Since 2008, social media has become an integral part of elections in the US, and continues to gain importance in electoral campaigns around the world as social media offers electoral candidates a new medium for communicating with their constituents. Given the attention authenticity has received in relation to electoral campaigns, and the role of social media in campaigns, this research studies the role of authenticity in electoral campaigns by using Gilpin, Palazzolo and Brody’s (2010) definition of online authenticity as the theoretical basis and as the basis of the semi-structured interview guide. Ten interviews are conducted with US Democrats in which participants are shown and asked about screenshots from four American electoral candidates’ Facebook pages. Using grounded theory to analyze the interview transcripts, this study refines existing definitions of online authenticity and offers insights into how electoral candidates can demonstrate their authenticity in electoral social media campaigns.