Political PR on the social network Facebook during Easter holidays

Abstract

Political marketing during election campaigns seems to be an everyday reality for an average citizen in Serbia. The Internet used to be considered as a bastion of freedom, different from traditional, controlled media. However, social networks have changed this - it's getting harder to isolate from politics. Voluntarily or not, we see political messages online just as we see them on TV, billboards or in the press. Not only in commercials, politicians also speak from their Facebook pages to their fans - because politicians have become celebrities, the stars. Exposure to political messages is relevant in forming public opinion, but the manipulation gets more hidden, especially during traditional and religious holidays like the Easter. It's easier to access people during leisure times and politicians tend to present themselves as 'one of us'. We researched the type of activities of political parties on Facebook and we proved that, even though the style of campaigns may vary among parties, their political PR follows the same rules as in the traditional media.

Politički marketing je u vreme predizborne kampanje u Srbiji svakodnevna stvarnost svakog građanina. Internet je dugo smatran poljem slobode, nasuprot kontrolisanim medijima, ali pojavom društvenih mreža postaje sve teže da se izolujemo od političkih uticaja. Dobrovoljno ili ne, viđamo reklamne poruke na Fejsbuku kao što ih gledamo na bilbordima, televiziji ili u štampi. Ne samo reklamnim porukama, političari se obraćaju sa svojih stranica ljubiteljima, tj. obožavaocima - jer su političari javne ličnosti, zvezde. Pošto je izloženost porukama političara važna u formiranju stavova birača, a manipulacija sve prikrivenija, odlučili smo da se posvetimo istraživanju političkog PR-a stranaka u vreme Uskrsa. Pristup biračima je olakšan za vreme praznika i lakše je predstaviti se kao dobroćudan političar koji je 'isti kao vi'. Naše istraživanje je pokazalo da, iako stil varira od stranke do stranke, politički PR svih stranaka u uzorku je isti i ne odstupa od stila kampanje u tradicionalnim medijima.