Politics and the Twitter Revolution

Politics and the Twitter Revolution: How Tweets Influence the Relationship between Political Leaders and the Public, by John H. Parmelee and Shannon L. Bichard, is the first comprehensive examination of political Twitter use. Multiple methods and theories reveal why political leaders are followed, the persuasive power of political tweets, Twitter's effects on political polarization, and the significance of Twitter as a political innovation. Parmelee and Bichard's findings show Twitter has caused major changes in how people engage politically. Leaders' tweets are quite influential on followers despite followers and leaders having different expectations of how to use Twitter.