THE INVOLVEMENT PROCESS THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA IN 2010 UK ELECTIONS: IS IT A REAL FACEBOOK BASED PARTICIPATION?

As far as the use of the Internet for election campaigns is concerned, the most interesting experiences seem to draw an evolution from the traditional party organization to a more innovative digital participative organization. On the one hand, the associative dimension of the parties, based on membership and on local rootedness (party on the ground), is deemed to be in crisis by a large number of scholars (Kartz and Mair 1995). This decline is linked to a loss of legitimacy and trust in political parties (Dalton 2002). On the other hand, the evolution of the Internet creates the opportunity for supporters to find the operative and organizational tools necessary to get involved in consensus-developing activities. In this scenario it would be simplistic to consider the Internet a mere means of communication, instead we need to focus on its mobilization, organization and participation potential. This paper focuses on the way of generating participation on Facebook, by analysing UK General Elections 2010. In particular, the analysis investigates which are the communication strategies used by the three main party that are able to elicit participation of Facebook users.