Effects of personalisation and interactivity on the perception of politicians on Instagram

• Main Authors: Goh, Yan Hui, Tay, Ashley Shu Ren, Ho, Judith Hui Yi, Heng, Terence Joo Kuang
• Other Authors: Jung Younbo
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Communication::Public opinion
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/59857
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Since the approval of online media usage for political campaigning during the 2011 General Elections, an increasing number of politicians have jumped on board the social media bandwagon to connect with their electorate. Instagram is a social networking platform akin to a visual diary that focuses on photos, which may be accompanied by captions. Its share of social sites visits in Singapore grew tremendously, while, as of February 2014, 15 out of 99 Singapore’s Members of Parliament have their own Instagram accounts. Given the rapidly growing trend of Instagram usage among politicians, this study investigates the effects of two self-presentation styles: 1) personalisation that is presenting the private over the public life of a politician; and 2) text-based interactivity that is presenting the active versus passive voice of a politician on voters’ perception of politicians and their voting intention in the context of Instagram. A total of 120 participants, aged 18 to 24, took part in an experiment where they looked through a mock-up of an Instagram profile of a politician, consisting of eight different photos, with captions and comments. Results showed that presenting the public life of a politician had a more positive effect on perception of character, compared to the private life. Using a highly interactive style on Instagram also had a more positive effect on perception of character, compared to a lack of interactivity. An interaction effect was also found for personalisation and interactivity on voting intention. In addition, character perception was a successful mediator for the effects of personalisation and interactivity on voting intention. Theoretical implications with respect to impression management in social media, as well as practical implications for political engagement are discussed.