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Facebook political communication inTaiwan: 1.0/2.0 messages and election/post-election messagesWei-Chun Wena

a Shih Hsin University, TaiwanPublished online: 18 Jul 2013.

To cite this article: Wei-Chun Wen (2014) Facebook political communication in Taiwan: 1.0/2.0messages and election/post-election messages, Chinese Journal of Communication, 7:1, 19-39, DOI:10.1080/17544750.2013.816754

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17544750.2013.816754

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Facebook political communication in Taiwan: 1.0/2.0 messages and

election/post-election messages

Wei-Chun Wen*

Shih Hsin University, Taiwan

Facebook’s use in political communication has been increasingly popular around theworld. Although studies have investigated Facebook political communication invarious contexts, related research in Chinese communities has been rare. The currentstudy analyzed candidates’ Facebook pages during and after the 2012 Taiwanesepresidential election. Considering the interactive nature of Facebook, this study alsocompared the 1.0 (candidate messages) and 2.0 messages (candidate messageshighlighted by “friends”). Comparative analysis revealed that while the 1.0 messagesemphasized policy more than character, the 2.0 messages emphasized character overpolicy. This study also suggests that politicians have shifted the main functions oftheir Facebook posts based on their roles in campaigning and governing.

Keywords: Facebook; functional theory; permanent campaign; political com-munication; Taiwan

Introduction

Launched in 2004, the social network Facebook now has more than 900 million activeusers (Facebook Newsroom, 2012). With so many active users, Facebook has a greatinfluence in diverse aspects of life. Facebook’s important role in politics has beenwidely recognized since the 2008 US presidential election. Many political observersand researchers argued that Facebook was not the only reason for Obama’s victory,but it did help (Fraser & Dutta, 2008; Johnson & Perlmutter, 2009, 2010). Somescholars even dubbed the 2008 US presidential campaign as “the Facebook election”(Johnson & Perlmutter, 2009). In recent years, Facebook has been used in politicalcommunication in many other regions, including Asia, Canada, and Europe, as wellas several Arab nations (Kuzma, 2010; Sayed, 2011; Small, 2008; Tufekci & Wilson,2012; Vesnic-Alujevic, 2012). Thus, based on Facebook’s important influence anddiversity, Facebook political communication merits scholarly attention.

This study analyzed the Facebook messages of major Taiwanese politicians,focusing on the presidential candidates during and after the most recent 2012 election.A widely applied analytical approach, the functional theory of political campaigndiscourse (Benoit, 1999, 2001, 2007), was used. Although Facebook pages have beenwidely studied, Facebook political communication in Chinese communities has rarelybeen analyzed. This study used the Taiwan case, as Taiwan has the largest ChineseFacebook population, to analyze the patterns of Facebook political communicationin Chinese communities (Socialbakers, 2012). Exploring an important case in Chinesecommunities also contributes to the literature of comparative content analysis,

q 2013 The Centre for Chinese Media and Comparative Communication Research, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

* Email: johnwen@cc.shu.edu.tw

Chinese Journal of Communication, 2014

Vol. 7, No. 1, 19–39, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17544750.2013.816754

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a crucial approach of international media research (Nordenstreng, 1999; Perlmutter,1999).

Facebook and Taiwanese politics

In July 2012, Taiwan had about 12.2 million Facebook users, approximately 53% ofTaiwan’s population (Socialbakers, 2012). The Chinese government blocks access toFacebook in mainland China, though many Chinese use proxy servers to accessFacebook. Thus, Taiwanese users currently account for the largest Chinese Facebookcommunity

With inspiration drawn from the 2008 US presidential election, some Taiwanesecandidates used Facebook in the 2009 local election. Facebook became a standardcampaigning tool for all major Taiwanese election candidates by 2010. All 11candidates for the Five Metropolitan Elections had their own Facebook pages(Zenithoptimedia, 2011). Following the experience from local and mayoral elections,major national candidates also used Facebook in the 2012 presidential electioncampaign. The opposition leader Tsai Ying-wen created her Facebook page in 2008.Currently, Tsai has more than 677,000 fans and continues to use her Facebook pageeven after losing the 2012 presidential election. The incumbent President Ma startedhis Facebook page in 2011. Using the name of “President Ma Ying-jeou”, Ma’sFacebook page has more than 1.4 million fans and continues to operate as thepresident’s communication outlet after his 2012 re-election. Although not as popularas the Facebook pages of the political leaders, major political parties and manygovernmental agencies in Taiwan also have created Facebook pages as acommunication outlet with the public.

Facebook and political communication

To understand the current status of research on Facebook political communication,both English and Chinese databases were consulted. The literature review focused oncontexts, methods, and results of the studies. In other words, the review was intendedto elaborate the following issues: In which countries or areas has Facebook politicalcommunication been studied? What research procedures have been used? Whatpatterns have been found between Facebook and political communication?

This section groups the related studies into two broad categories, Westerncountries and Eastern counterparts. From the literature, two main points can beargued: first, the research of Facebook political communication in Chinesecommunities is incomplete. Second, few studies have systematically investigated themajor features of the 2.0 messages.

Western countries

Much of the literature focuses on the use of Facebook in the 2008 US presidentialelection. Commentators Fraser and Dutta (2008) observed that the 2008 US electionwas the first time that all the candidates attempted to connect with voters via socialnetworks like Facebook and Myspace. The authors argued that Obama’s electionvictory was in part due to support among young Americans, “the Facebookgeneration”. In a similar vein, some scholars also used the term “the Facebook

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election” to highlight the features of the 2008 US presidential election (Johnson &Perlmutter, 2009). Johnson and Perlmutter (2010) argued that Obama’s successful useof a 2.0 model, in which candidates do not have complete control over the campaignmessage, fundamentally changed political campaigning.

Scholars also investigated the specific methods of using Facebook in the 2008election. Abroms and Lefebvre (2009) observed that both the Obama and McCaincampaigns used Facebook and Myspace in the 2008 election, yet the Obamacampaign created profiles on more targeted social network sites and furthercustomized the profiles for each state in the United States. Robertson, Vatrapu, andMedina (2010, p. 27) found “the bulk of individuals” spent their time on a singlecandidate’s wall and among the three candidates they analyzed, one candidate (theultimate winner) received the bulk of the attention. Woolley, Limperos, and Oliver(2010) analyzed the user-generated Facebook groups in the 2008 election. They foundthat Obama was generally portrayed more positively across Facebook groups thanwas McCain. The authors also suggested that Facebook further polarized theexpressions of political beliefs.

The US experience of Facebook political communication quickly influenced thecounterparts in Canada and Australia, two predominantly English-speakingcountries. Small (2008, p. 85) maintained that Facebook is part of a broadertransformation toWeb 2.0, which is “far more collaborative, creative and interactive”than its predecessor. He reported that, in 2008, there were more than 400 Facebookgroups for the Canadian election. In the same year, all major party leaders andthousands of candidates in Canada posted profiles on Facebook during the election.MacNamara and Kenning (2011) reported that eight politicians used Facebook in the2007 Australian election, and the number of politicians who used Facebook in the2010 Australian election increased to 146 (about three-quarters of all federalpoliticians).

Vesnic-Alujevic (2012) studied political participation and Web 2.0 in Europethrough an online survey of participants from 16 EU states. The author used theconcept of interactivity as the benchmark of Web 2.0, and focused the Web 2.0investigation on Facebook. Vesnic-Alujevic reported that the typical participant inthe survey of Facebook use was “equally male or female, between 26 and 35 years old,highly educated and a daily user of the Internet” (2012, p. 469). The researcher alsofound a positive relationship between online and offline political participation.

Additional studies analyzed the contents of Facebook used by Europeanpoliticians. Emruli, Zejneli, and Agai (2011) examined the use of Facebook inMacedonia. They found that, in the 2008 Macedonian parliamentary election,candidates used Facebook as a means of information rather than as a medium forinteraction with voters. Savulescu and Vitelar (2012) analyzed three femaleRomanian politicians’ Facebook sites. They found that the photographs on thesepoliticians’ Facebook pages focused on official positions and professional activitiesrather than on personal lives. The authors argued that Romanian politicians did notmake a clear distinction between Facebook and traditional media.

Eastern countries

The role of Facebook in the democratic press in North Africa was noted not only inthe news but also in academic studies. Utilizing a survey and focus group discussions

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of young Egyptian activists, Sayed (2011) found that young activists in Egypt wereprimarily driven by the needs of guidance and surveillance in their use of socialnetwork sites like Facebook. The researcher also reported a positive correlationbetween online and offline political participation. Tufekci and Wilson (2012)surveyed participants in Egypt’s Tahrir Square protests. They found that peopleprimarily learned the protest information through Facebook, phone contact, andface-to-face conversations. Tufekci and Wilson also indicated that the use of socialmedia like Facebook greatly increased the odds that a respondent attended protestson the first day. Khamis and Vaughn (2011) focused their investigation of the 2011Egyptian uprising on a Facebook page, “We Are ALL Khaled Said.” They indicatedthat this specific page mobilized the largest number of protesters. The authors alsodiscussed the changing functions of this Facebook page during different stages of theEgyptian revolution.

Kuzma (2010) investigated the level of Asian government usage of Web 2.0 socialmedia, including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Among the 50 Asiangovernments examined, approximately 30% of Asian governments used Web 2.0tools for communication. Kuzma indicated that most Asian governments used theWeb 2.0 tools for information dissemination, education, and tourism. It is worthnoting that, in Kuzma’s list of Asian governments, China, Hong Kong, and Macauwere analyzed, yet Taiwan, which has the largest number of Chinese Facebook users,was not included.

Facebook and political communication in Asia was discussed in two additionalstudies. Kao (2011) analyzed Taiwanese mayoral candidate Chen Chu’s Facebookfan page used in the 2010 Kaohsiung mayoral election. The author found that themore the candidate used Facebook, the more responses were generated from fans.Rahimi (2011) indicated that the use of Facebook, as well as other social media,virtualized dissents to challenge Iranian government’s authoritarian rule. The authorargued that social media in Iran have become agonistic arenas of politics.

Summary

The literature reveals that although Facebook political communication in a variety ofcontexts has been studied, few studies have analyzed these texts systematically,especially those in Chinese communities. Furthermore, while many studies mentionthe features of Web 2.0, none systematically explores the differences between 1.0 and2.0 messages. In other words, studies indicate that the Web 2.0 campaign allowsFacebook users to interact with candidates and other users, which differs from theprimarily one-way communication of the Web 1.0 campaign. Nevertheless, theliterature rarely investigates the possible influence of user interaction on campaignmessages. In short, the possible differences between 1.0 messages (controlled by onlythe candidates) and 2.0 messages (controlled by both candidates and Facebookfriends) are not systematically analyzed in the literature.

Functional theory of political campaign discourse

An important feature of US political campaigns is the political advertisements andmuch of the research in political communication focuses on ad messages (Kaid, 2004).In her edited Handbook of Political Communication Research, Kaid (2004) indicated

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that the contrast between issue/image and negative/positive were the two mostimportant dimensions of ad research. These two dimensions were also the major fociof many analytical studies in political debates, speeches, Web pages, and otherpolitical communication messages (Benoit, 2007; Jamieson, 2000; McKinney &Carlin, 2004). Among different lines of analytical work on the issue/image andnegative/positive distinctions, the functional theory of political campaign discoursehas been used most frequently. Functional theory has been used to investigate avariety of political communication messages, including messages in traditional media(e.g., ads, debates, and speeches) and those in new media (e.g., Web pages and socialmedia) (Benoit, 1999, 2001, 2007; Benoit et al., 2011).

The tenet of functional theory in political campaign discourse is that voting is acomparative act between two or more candidates. These candidates need to appearpreferable over their opponents to win the majority of votes. The functional theorymaintains that candidates establish preferability by campaign messages with the threefundamental functions (acclaiming, attacking, and defending) on two topics (policyand character) (Benoit, 1999, 2001, 2007). Acclaiming, attacking, and defending arethe three fundamental functions of political campaigns because “only these threekinds of statements or functions of discourse are capable of making a candidateappear preferable to opponents” (Benoit, 2007, p. 36). Specifically, acclaimingportrays the sponsoring candidates (or their political party) favorably, attackingportrays the opposing candidates (or their political party) unfavorably, and defendingrespond to a prior attack on the candidates (or their political party) (Benoit, 2001).

Policy and character, as well as party identification, are major bases for votingbehavior (Bibby, 2000; Levine, 1995). Although party identification is relatively stablefor the majority of voters, the relative emphasis of policy and character is oftenadjusted to influence the uncommitted voters pivotal to election result (Benoit,Blaney, & Pier, 1998; Bibby, 2000). Therefore, the functional theory of politicalcampaign discourse analyzes the distinction between policy and character. Manystudies have revealed that the differentiation of policy from character is meaningfulbecause voters often have different perceptions, memories, and evaluations ofcampaign messages that stress one topic over others (e.g., Garramone, 1986; Johnson-Cartee & Copeland, 1989). To explore the more sophisticated implications ofcampaign messages, the functional theory further classifies policy and character intosubtopics. Policy messages are categorized as past deeds, future plans, and generalgoals, while character messages are separated into personal qualities,leadership abilities, and ideals (Benoit, 1999, 2001, 2007). The precise definitionsand examples of the topics and subtopics will be provided in the procedure section.

Compared with other lines of analytical research on campaign messages, thefunctional theory has the following advantages. First, in the analysis of functions,functional theory examines not only the traditional differentiation between positive(acclaiming) and negative (attacking) messages, but also defending messages.It enables researchers to examine proactive and reactive discourses. Second, thefunctional theory observes the subtopics of policy and character, and, therefore, is ableto generate more sophisticated implications of policy and character (Benoit, 1999,2001, 2007). Third, it employs a theme (a coherent idea) as the coding unit. Comparedwith the commonly utilized whole ad for investigating political advertisements,thematic analysis can provide a more accurate estimation of the proportion offunctions and topics (Jamieson, 2000). Finally, using a theme as the coding unit, the

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functional theory can be applied to not only the analysis of political ads, but also theanalysis of debates, news releases, speeches, talk shows,Web pages, and other types ofcampaign discourse. The wide range of applications, in turn, makes the studies basedon functional theory advantageous at generating programmatic investigations andmore transferable implications (Benoit, 2007; Benoit & Holbert, 2008).

Permanent campaign

Although campaigning plays an important role in modern political communication,scholars often distinguish the concept of governing from campaigning. As OrnsteinandMann (2000, p. 225) noted, “Campaigning intrinsically is a zero-sum game with awinner and a loser. Governing, ideally, is an additive game that tries to avoid pointingfingers or creating winners and losers in the policy battles”. Based on the abovedistinction, the messages could be different in election and non-election periods.

However, the concept of permanent campaign blurs the line between campaigningand governing. Blumenthal (1982, p. 7) defined a permanent campaign as a“combination of image making and strategic calculation that . . . remakesgovernment into an instrument designed to sustain an elected official’s popularity”.The practice of permanent campaigning can be traced back to the Nixon presidency in1968, which represented a major change in the operation of modern US government(Culbertson, 2008; McClellan, 2008). To maintain its popularity, modern USgovernment communication often becomes a nonstop, continuous campaigningprocess (Ornstein & Mann, 2000; Tenpas & McCann, 2007). The three US presidentsin the last two decades continued the above practice as part of their governingstrategy (Goidel, 2011). Goidel (2011) indicated that President Clinton, PresidentBush, and President Obama all relied heavily on polling data in making theirdecisions and shaping their messages to the public. Politicians appear to believe thatthe practice of permanent campaigning “provides the highest probability of politicalsuccess” (Goidel, 2011, p. 138).

Observing political communication in the era of new media, Ornstein and Mann(2000) argued that various forms of cyberdemocracy could intensify the practice ofpermanent campaigning. To test the endurance of the concept of permanentcampaign, scholars have investigated indicators such as the yearly or monthly pollingexpenditures of the government and congress (Tenpas & McCann, 2007).Nevertheless, few (if any) studies have compared the messages during an electionwith those in a non-election period, to clarify whether politicians are undergoing thesame concept of “campaigning” in different periods. Because of the high frequency ofelections in the past two decades, major Taiwanese politicians and parties areextremely sensitive to the polls and instant reactions of the public. The concept ofpermanent campaigning in the US politics could well be applied to the politicalcommunication in Taiwan (Ting, 2008).

Context

Different from other Chinese communities, such as mainland China, Hong Kong,andMacau, Taiwan’s political system is unique. After lifting the opposition party banin 1987, Taiwan has gone through a continuous process of democratization. The firstdirect presidential election in Taiwan was held in 1996. Since then, Taiwan’s peoplehave chosen their leader every four years. Currently, the two major political parties in

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Taiwan are the Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party(DPP). The KMT won the 1996, 2008, and 2012 presidential elections, whereas theDPP won the presidency in 2000 and 2004. In the 2012 Taiwanese presidentialelection, the KMT candidate was sitting President Ma Ying-jeou, and the DPPcandidate was the party chairwoman Tsai Ying-wen.

Regarding its political/cultural background, Taiwan has often been observed tocombine East Asian culture of collectivism and Chinese heritage of Confucianism(Hofstede, 1980; Samovar & Porter, 2001). Compared with North America’s cultureof individualism, Taiwan’s collective culture encourages cooperation overcompetition, so it was expected to emphasize harmony and positive messages.However, the literature showed that this cultural tendency sometimes could beoverridden by political situations. Thus, campaign messages in Taiwan were notalways more positive than in the US (Wen, Benoit, & Yu, 2004).

The influence of Confucianism, which stresses that character is the essence ofgoverning, appeared in the comparison of the 2000 Taiwanese and US television ads.Wen, Benoit, and Yu (2004) found that Taiwanese ads emphasized character overpolicy, while the US ads had a higher proportion of policy messages than characterones. Nevertheless, the influence of character-centered culture could be overridden bythe medium. For example, an analysis of the 2004 Taiwanese presidential debatesrevealed that candidates in debates addressed policy more often than character(Benoit, Wen, & Yu, 2007). Similarly, Wen and Yu (2009) reported that the 2008Taiwanese presidential ads stressed character over policy, whereas the 2008Taiwanese presidential debates addressed policy more often than character.In short, cultural tendencies lead Taiwanese politicians to emphasize more positiveand character driven messages, yet the tendencies were sometimes countered by theinfluences of political situations and the medium’s nature.

Purpose and questions

The current study applied and extended the functional theory of political campaigndiscourse (Benoit, 1999, 2001, 2007) to analyze both major Taiwanese politicalleaders’ Facebook pages. The functional theory posits that the essential goal ofcampaign messages is to establish the preferability of a candidate over his/heropponents. To make themselves appear preferable, candidates engage in the threebasic functions of acclaiming, attacking, and defending policy and character.

In short, functions and topics (and their subtopics) are the foci of the functionaltheory. To provide the basis of further investigations, two research questions wereproposed:

RQ1: What were the relative emphases on functions in the candidate’s Facebookpages during the 2012 presidential election?

RQ2: What were the relative emphases on topics (and subtopics) in the candidate’sFacebook pages during the 2012 presidential election?

To broaden the scope of analysis, the researcher extended the function theory intwo major aspects. First, as the literature of political communication suggests, thepractice of permanent campaign has been well established in the US democraticoperation for more than four decades (Culbertson, 2008). The concept of permanentcampaign blurs the line between campaigning and governing (Blumenthal, 1982;Ornstein & Mann, 2000). Based on the nonstop nature of campaigning, it is

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reasonable to extend the scope of analysis from the period before an election to theperiod after the election. This study proposed the following research question tocompare Facebook posts during and after the election:

RQ3: Were there different emphases on message functions and topics in the Facebookpages during and after the 2012 presidential election?

The nature of collaboration and interaction makes Facebook distinct from thetraditional media completely controlled by candidates (Johnson & Perlmutter, 2010).Utilizing the three interactive designs (like, comment, and share), this studydifferentiated 1.0 messages (all of the candidate posts) from 2.0 messages (thecandidate posts highlighted by the three types of interactions with Facebook friends).To explore the possible differences between the two types of candidate messages, thefollowing research question was proposed:

RQ4: Were there different emphases regarding message functions and topics betweenthe 1.0 messages and 2.0 messages during the 2012 election?

Research procedure

The researcher went through a five-step process in the analytical study: sampling,unitization, coding, checking reliability, and selecting 2.0 messages.

Sampling

Facebook texts were downloaded on May 26, 2012. To analyze the most recentTaiwanese political leader’s Facebook pages, this study focused on the sites of the twopresidential candidates in the 2012 election, incumbent president Ma Ying-jeou andopposition party chair Tsai Ying-wen. Sampling was done over two periods for eachpolitical leader: two months before the vote (14 November 2011 to 13 January 2012)for the election period and the last two months (20March 2012 to 19May 2012) of thefirst term of presidency for the post-election period. The sampling process involvedtwo considerations: obtaining the most recent posts and contrasting the campaignperiod (when politicians faced immediate election pressure) with the governing period(when politicians did not face immediate election pressure). Given that Taiwan’sofficial campaign period is limited to only 28 days, four months of texts have coveredthe most critical periods of election and post-election campaigns.

To conduct a comprehensive examination of the texts, excluding those posts usingsurrogate authors (e.g., Facebook editor or political parties) and those postspresenting only visual messages (because the functional theory focuses on analysis ofverbal messages), all posts were downloaded (instead of just the highlights) from theFacebook pages. The texts included 88,879 words presented in 239 posts. On average,each candidate had approximately one Facebook post per day during the four-monthperiod. This is equivalent to Obama’s frequency of using Facebook (once daily), butlower than Romney’s frequency (twice a day) during the 2012 US presidential election(Richter, 2012). The average number in each of Ma’s election posts was 357 words,while each of Tsai’s election posts contained around 292 words. In the post-electionperiod, each of Ma’s posts contained an average of 606 words, while Tsai’s postscontained an average of 278 words.

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Unitization

The functional theory of political campaign discourse employs a theme as the codingunit. According to Benoit (1999, p. 20), a theme is “a coherent idea”, meaning “anassertion about a subject matter” (Berelson, 1952, p. 18; Benoit &Wells, 1996, p. 232).In other words, an utterance about a candidate or his/her affiliations is a theme(performing the functions of acclaiming, attacking, or defending). For example, thefollowing text in one of Ma’s posts (2011) was unitized into three themes:

Recently, I signed an open sky agreement with Japan to lift almost all the restrictions onroutes and waypoints between the two countries (theme 1). The restrictions on the twoairports in the Tokyo area will also be lifted in the future (theme2). It indicates that thestatus of Taiwan in the East Asian aviation industry has gone through a silent revolution(theme3).

The above text contains three coherent ideas (three acclaims for Ma), and, therefore,was unified as three themes in the analysis process. After the unification process, theFacebook posts contained 1666 themes, including 1047 themes during the electioncampaign period (Ma 387 themes/Tsai 660 themes) and 619 themes in the post-election period (Ma 426 themes/Tsai 193 themes).

Coding

Functions and topics (and subtopics) are the two dimensions analyzed by functionaltheory research. After unitization, each theme of the Facebook posts was coded as afunction (acclaim/attack/defense) in a topic (policy/character) and a further subtopicof policy or character. The subtopics of policy included past deeds, future plans, andgeneral goals, whereas the subtopics of character were divided into personal qualities,leadership abilities, and ideals.

The following definitions provided the criteria for classifying functions in thisstudy:

Themes that portrayed the sponsoring candidate or the candidate’s political party in afavorable light were acclaims.

Themes that portrayed the opposing candidate or opposing candidate’s political party inan unfavorable light were attacks.

Themes that explicitly responded to a prior attack on the candidate or the candidate’spolitical party were defenses. (Benoit, 1999)

The other message dimension is topics. The differences between policy andcharacter topics were decided according to the following definitions:

Utterances that concern governmental action (past, current, or future) and problemsamenable to governmental action were considered policy themes.

Utterances that address characteristics, traits, abilities, or attributes of the candidates (ortheir parties) were considered character themes. (Benoit, 1999)

Regarding the classifications of subtopics, policy utterances were classified ashaving three subtopics: past deeds, future plans, and general goals. Benoit explainedthe three forms of policy utterances:

Past deeds concern the outcomes of effects of actions taken by the candidates . . . Futureplans are a means to an end, specific proposals for policy action . . . Unlike future plans,goals refer to ends rather than means. Note that past deeds should be particularly

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relevant for voters who engage in retrospective voting . . . Both future plans and generalgoals concern the future, so they facilitate prospective voting. (2007, pp. 52–54)

Character utterances were divided into three subtopics: personal qualities, futureplans, and ideals. Benoit explained these three forms of character utterances asfollowing:

Personal qualities are the personality traits of the candidate, such as honesty, compassion,strength, courage, friendliness. Leadership ability usually appears as experience in office,the ability to accomplish things as an elected official. Finally, ideals are similar to goals, butthey are values or principles rather than policy outcomes. (2007, p. 54)

According to functional study literature, utterances in either the category of acclaimsor attacks are further coded as policy/character topics (and subtopics), whereasutterances in the category of defense are not further differentiated by their topicalemphases.

Checking reliability

To ensure the current study was based on a credible coding process, the Facebookpages were analyzed by two independent coders with approximately 10% overlappingtexts, which were used to calculate Krippendorff’s alpha for checking intercoderreliability (Hayes & Krippendorff, 2007; Krippendorff, 2004). According toKrippendorff (2004, 2009), a values over 0.800 are generally considered satisfactory.For this study, a was 0.904 for analyzing functions, 0.922 for differentiating topics,0.928 for coding policy subtopics, and 0.848 for classifying character subtopics.Therefore, the current study’s analysis was based on a credible process.

Selecting 2.0 messages

Considering the interactive nature of Facebook, this study distinguished 2.0 messagesfrom the 1.0 message posts. The 1.0 messages included all candidate posts, whereas 2.0messages were defined as candidate posts highlighted by their Facebook friends. Toanalyze the possible patterns in the highlighting process, this study selected 2.0messages based on the frequencies of the three interactive functions in Facebook: like,comment, and share. After downloading a Facebook post, the researcher also markedthe date and the frequencies of likes, comments, and shares. The researcher then rankedthe posts and selected the top 10 posts for each of the three indications for each of thetwo Facebook sites (Ma and Tsai’s). In other words, there were six sets (3 £ 2) of 2.0messages.

Results

The first research question explored the functions of both candidates’ Facebookpages during the 2012 Taiwanese presidential election. As Table 1 shows, bothcandidate’s posts contained more than 70% acclaims, followed by attacks, withthe lowest proportion of defenses (x2 [2, N ¼ 1047] ¼ 791.398, p , 0.0001). Thoughthe three functions presented in both candidates’ posts were in a similar pattern, theincumbent candidate Ma’s posts contained a higher proportion of acclaims anddefenses, whereas the challenger Tsai’s posts included a higher proportion ofattacks. The different functional emphasis between the two candidates was significant(x2 [2, N ¼ 1047] ¼ 6.462, p , 0.05).

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Table

1.Functionsandtopicsduringtheelection.

Topics

Functions

Policy

Character

Acclaim

Attack

Defense

PD

**

FP**

GG

**

PQ

**

LA

**

ID**

Ma

296(76.5%

)*71(18.3%

)20(5.2%

)194(53%

)***

173(47%

)

127(65.5%

)22(11.3%

)45(23.2%

)89(51.4%

)10(5.8%

)74(42.8%

)Tsai

468(70.9%

)*165(25%

)27(4.1%

)342(54%

)***

291(46%

)114(33.3%

)139(40.6%

)89(26%

)128(44%

)37(12.7%

)126(43.3%

)Total

764(73%

)*236(22.5%

)47(4.5%

)536(53.6%

)***

464(46.4%

)

241(45%

)161(30%

)134(25%

)217(46.8%

)47(10.1%

)200(43.1%

)

Note:*Acclaim

saccountedforthehighestproportionamongthethreefunctions.

**PD

¼pastdeeds,FP

¼future

plans,GG

¼generalgoals,PQ

¼personalqualities,LA

¼leadership

abilities,ID

¼ideals.***Both

candidatesstressed

policy

over

character.

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The second research question investigated the emphasis on topics and subtopics in

the Facebook pages during the election. As Table 1 displays, both candidates stressed

policy over character (x2 [1, N ¼ 1000] ¼ 5.184, p , 0.05).Despite the similar patterns in policy/character topics, the two candidates had

different patterns in their utilization of subtopics. Concerning policy subtopics,

Table 1 shows 65.5% of incumbent Ma’s policy utterances were focused on past

deeds, whereas Tsai’s policy utterances had only a 33.3% focus on past deeds. In

Tsai’s policy utterances, 40.6% were on future plans and 26% on general goals, both

higher than Ma’s policy utterances (11.3% on future plans and 23.2% on general

goals). The above differences in policy subtopics between Ma and Tsai were

significant (x2 [2, N ¼ 536] ¼ 64.203, p , 0.001).Table 1 also displays data for the character subtopics. In both candidate’s

character utterances, personal qualities accounted for the highest proportion,

followed by ideals, and finally leadership abilities, which accounted for the lowest

proportion (x2 [2, N ¼ 464] ¼ 115.538, p , 0.001). Although both candidates

addressed personal qualities most frequently and leadership abilities least frequently,

the relative emphasis on character subtopics were significantly different: Ma had a

higher proportion of utterance on personal qualities, whereas Tsai had a higher

proportion of utterances on leadership abilities (x2 [2, N ¼ 464] ¼ 6.448, p , 0.05).The third research question explored possible differences in emphasis of functions

and topics between the Facebook messages posted during and after the election. This

study compared the functions, topics, policy subtopics, and character subtopics of

each politician during the two periods. Overall, clear patterns appeared in the changes

of functions, policy subtopics, and character subtopics while there were no consistent

changes in topic emphasis.As Table 2 shows, the changes in functional emphasis after the election were

the opposite between Ma and Tsai. The re-elected incumbent Ma increased the

proportions of acclaims and defenses, but decreased the proportion of attacks.

The differences of functions between Ma’s posts in the two periods were significant

(x2 [2, N ¼ 813] ¼ 66.74, p , 0.001). In contrast, opposition leader Tsai decreased

the proportion of acclaims and defenses, but increased the proportion of attacks. The

differences in functions between Tsai’s posts during the two periods were also

significant (x2 [2, N ¼ 853] ¼ 22.745, p , 0.001).The contrasts in topic emphasis between election and post-election messages were

different between the two politicians. As Table 2 displays, the incumbent Ma stressed

policy more than character during and after the election. Tsai, on the other hand,

increased the proportion of character utterances but decreased the proportion of

policy utterances after the election. The difference between Tsai’s posts in the two

periods was significant (x2 [1, N ¼ 822] ¼ 26.233, p , 0.001).Ma and Tsai both changed their policy subtopics in opposite directions after the

election. As Table 2 shows, Ma decreased the proportion of past deeds, but increased

the proportion of future plans (x2 [2, N ¼ 410] ¼ 8.323, p , 0.05). In contrast, Tsai

increased the proportion of past deeds, but decreased the proportions of future plans

(x2 [2, N ¼ 404] ¼ 39.903, p , 0.001). Table 2 also displays the character subtopics

during and after the election. Both Ma and Tsai kept the same pattern (personal

qualities accounted for the highest proportion, followed by ideals, and

leadership abilities accounted for the lowest proportion) in the two periods.

30 Wei-Chun Wen

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Table

2.Functionsandtopicsduringandafter

theelection.

Topics

Functions

Policy

Character

Acclaim

Attack

Defense

PD

FP

GG

PQ

LA

ID

Ma/during

296(76.5%

)*71(18.3%

)20(5.2%

)*194(53%

)***

173(47%

)127(65.5%

)22(11.3%

)45(23.2%

)89(51.4%

)10(5.8%

)74(42.8%

)Ma/after

384(90.1%

)*7(1.6%

)35(8.2%

)*216(55.2%

)***

175(44.8%

)

112(51.9%

)40(18.5%

)64(29.6%

)103(58.9%

)14(8%

)58(33.1%

)Tsai/during

468(70.9%

)165(25%

)**

27(4.1%

)342(54%

)****

291(46%

)114(33.3%

)139(40.6%

)89(26%

)128(44%

)37(12.7%

)126(43.3%

)Tsai/after

107(55.4%

)82(42.5%

)**

4(2.1%

)62(32.8%

)****

127(67.2%

)

40(64.5%

)4(6.5%

)18(29%

)62(48.8%

)*24(18.9%

)41(32.3%

)

Note:*Maincreasedtheproportionsofacclaim

sanddefensesafter

theelection.**Tsaiincreasedtheproportionofattacksafter

theelection.***Ma

stressed

policy

over

character

duringandafter

theelection.****Tsaidecreasedtheproportionofpolicy

utterancesafter

theelection.

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The fourth research question examined the possible patterns between the 1.0messages and 2.0 messages. Overall, the functions were similar in both messages,whereas the topics displayed clear contrasts. As Table 3 shows, the basic pattern(acclaims accounted for the highest proportion, followed by attacks, and defensesaccounted for the lowest proportion) was consistent in 1.0 and 2.0 messages in bothpoliticians.

There were clear contrasts in topics between 1.0 and 2.0 messages. As Table 3displays, the 1.0 messages in both Ma and Tsai’s Facebook pages emphasized policymore than character, whereas each of the three types of 2.0 messages contained ahigher proportion of character utterances than policy messages. All of thesedifferences were significant (Ma 1.0/2.0-like: x2 [1, N ¼ 449] ¼ 27.776, p, 0.001; Ma1.0/2.0-comment: x2 [1, N ¼ 449] ¼ 14.935, p , 0.001; Ma 1.0/2.0-share: x2

[1, N ¼ 457] ¼ 27.249, p , 0.001; Tsai 1.0/2.0-like: x2 [1, N ¼ 709] ¼ 42.465, p ,0.001; Tsai 1.0/2.0-comment: x2 [1, N ¼ 710] ¼ 40.584, p, 0.001; Tsai 1.0/2.0-share:x2 [1, N ¼ 711] ¼ 36.159, p , 0.001).

Implications

As the literature suggests, functions and topics are the most common foci of analyticalresearch on political communication. Programmatic studies of functional theory haverevealed important patterns to campaign messages in different countries. However,the patterns of functions and topics can be changed due to culture, media, andindividual situations. The major findings of the current study comply with this bigpicture.

General pattern

A general pattern appearing repeatedly in previous functional theory studies is thatcandidates used acclaims more frequently, followed by attacks, and then by defenses.The ordering of acclaims, attacks, and defenses among the three functions hasappeared in the majority of campaign messages in the US and other countries, such asGermany, South Korea, Taiwan, and Ukraine (Benoit, 1999, 2001, 2007; Benoit &

Table 3. Functions and topics of 1.0 and 2.0 messages during the election.

Functions Topics

Acclaim* Attack Defense Policy Character

Ma/1.0 296 (76.5%) 71 (18.3%) 20 (5.2%) 194 (53%)** 173 (47%)

/2.0-Like 61 (73.5%) 21 (25.3%) 1 (1.2%) 17 (20.7%) 65 (79.3%)***

/2.0-Comment 60 (69.8%) 22 (25.6%) 4 (4.7%) 24 (29.3%) 58 (70.7%)***

/2.0-Share 55 (59.8%) 35 (38%) 2 (2.2%) 20 (22.2%) 70 (77.8%)***

Tsai/1.0 468 (70.9%) 165 (25%) 27 (4.1%) 342 (54%)** 291 (46%)/2.0-Like 67 (88.2%) 9 (11.8%) 0 (0%) 11 (14.5%) 65 (85.5%)***

/2.0-Comment 57 (70.4%) 20 (24.7%) 4 (4.9%) 12 (15.6%) 65 (84.4%)***

/2.0-Share 68 (87.2%) 10 (12.8%) 0 (0%) 14 (17.9%) 64 (82.1%)***

Note: *Acclaims accounted for the highest proportion among the three functions. **1.0messages emphasized policy over character. ***2.0 messages emphasized character over policy.

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Klukovski, 2006; Benoit, Wen, & Yu, 2007; Lee & Benoit, 2005; Wen, Benoit, & Yu,

2004; Wen & Yu, 2009). The finding of the current study, again, confirmed this

pattern. During the 2012 Taiwanese presidential election, both candidates devoted

more than 70% of their Facebook messages to acclaims, approximately 20% to

attacks, but only a small amount to defenses.The nature of message functions provides a reasonable explanation for the above

pattern. Among the three functions, acclaims have no risks while creating

preferability over the opponent. Yet, attacks could generate a mudslinging feeling

and, therefore, incur a backlash in voter perceptions (Merritt, 1984; Stewart, 1975).

Candidates are generally reluctant to go on the defensive because of at least three

potential disadvantages. First, candidates must identify the attack before they defend;

therefore, defenses inevitably remind voters of negative descriptions. Second, when

candidates defend, they appear reactive rather than proactive. Third, defending could

force candidates to follow their opponent’s issues (Benoit, 1999, 2007; Benoit, Wen, &

Yu, 2007). Thus, without other crucial factors, candidates tend to acclaim most

frequently, then attack, and defend the least frequently.Another frequent pattern is that incumbents generally acclaim (and defend) more

often than challengers do, while the challengers attack more frequently than the

incumbent does. Kaid and Holtz-Bacha (1995) analyzed political ads across Britain,

France, Germany, Israel, Italy, and the US. They found that incumbents consistently

emphasized their accomplishments while in office, whereas challengers consistently

attacked their opponent’s record. The results of the current study were also consistent

with this pattern. Incumbent Ma’s Facebook posts contained a higher proportion of

acclaims and defenses than Tsai’s, while challenger Tsai’s Facebook posts included a

higher proportion of attacks than Ma’s Facebook posts did. In short, with the

incumbent’s record in office in mind, it is reasonable to assume that a candidate’s

relative emphasis on the three functions depends on their election roles.Besides the aforementioned pattern of incumbency and function, an additional

contrast showed between the incumbent and the challenger on policy subtopics

during the 2012 election. During the election period, the incumbent Ma devoted

almost two-thirds of his policy utterances to the subtopics of past deeds (65.5%), yet

Tsai’s Facebook only contained about one-third of policy utterances on the same

subtopic (33.3%). However, Tsai used approximately two-thirds of her policy

utterances to discuss future plans and general goals (66.6%), whereas Ma only had

about one-third of his policy utterances on these two subtopics (34.5%).Benoit (2007, pp. 53–54) indicated that “past deeds should be particularly

relevant for voter who engage in retrospective voting . . . Both future plans and

general goals concern the future, so they facilitate prospective voting”. In fact, Ma’s

retrospective strategy and Tsai’s prospective strategy were explicitly announced

during the election period. The chief executive of Ma’s re-election campaign King Pu-

tsung told the media, “We’ll let the voters understand that over the past more than

three years the Ma administration has done more than the former government ever

did” (“2012 Elections,” 2011). Tsai used the slogan “Taiwan Next” as her campaign

theme. Her spokesperson Hsu Chia-ching indicated that the theme meant “Tsai

represents a new era and a new generation” (Chao, 2011). In short, the general

strategies of prospective and retrospective voting and the candidate’s emphasis on

policy subtopics were closely related.

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Influence of cultural value and medium nature

Unlike the general pattern of functions, topic emphasis often varies fromone context to

another and from one medium to another. Studies of US election campaigns generally

indicate that US campaign messages have emphasized policy more than character

because a majority of US voters consider policy more important than character

(Benoit, 2007; Kaid & Johnston, 2001; West, 1997). In contrast, other studies also

found that some countries (e.g., Germany, Israel, South Korea, and Taiwan) have

different character and policy emphases.Previous studies of Taiwanese presidential elections reported that both the 2000

and 2008 Taiwanese presidential spots stressed character more than policy (Wen,

Benoit, & Yang, 2012; Wen & Yu, 2009). However, the 2004 and 2008 Taiwanese

debates emphasized policy over character (Benoit, Wen, & Yu, 2007; Wen & Yu,

2008). Both cultural values and the media influenced the campaign messages’ relative

emphasis.Specifically, a character-centered strategy appeared in Taiwanese presidential ad

production because of a great emphasis on a leader’s character in Chinese culture,

while Taiwanese debate participants used policy utterances more often to respond to

questions presented by debate panels (Benoit, Wen, & Yu, 2007; Wen, Benoit, & Yu,

2004; Wen & Yu, 2008, 2009). For the current study, as Table 3 shows, the 1.0

messages on Facebook emphasized policy over character, whereas all three types of

2.0 messages consistently stressed character more than policy. A plausible

explanation is that both Ma and Tsai more often used their Facebook sites to post

detailed policy utterances (i.e., their posts were often much longer than the general

Facebook posts). However, Taiwanese voters (here represented as their Facebook

friends) had more interests in the character utterances because of Facebook’s

interpersonal nature and the value of character in Chinese culture (Jensen, 1992; Wen,

Benoit, & Yu, 2004).The consistent contrasts between the 1.0 and the 2.0 messages found in this study

provide an important implication for Facebook political communication. Although

the literature defines Web 2.0 as “more collaborative, creative and interactive” than

Web 1.0 (Small, 2008, p. 85), few studies have provided data to exemplify the possible

feature of the 2.0 messages. The character-centered feature of 2.0 messages revealed

from both candidates’ Facebook pages during the 2012 Taiwanese presidential

election is instructive to future political candidates: Character utterances generate

more interactions between candidates and Facebook friends (potential voters) than

do policy utterances, despite the differences of political parties. Thus, political

candidates might consider increasing the proportions of character utterances on their

Facebook pages to facilitate interactions with potential voters.Chinese cultural influence also emerged in the subtopics of character during and

after the election. As Table 1 and Table 2 show, bothMa and Tsai addressed personal

qualities most often in character utterances in both periods of their Facebook posts.

In fact, major political commentators also argued that personal qualities were “one of

the two key dimensions” or even “the key factor in the results” in the 2012 Taiwanese

presidential election (Sheng, 2012; Yang, 2012). The pattern also appeared in the 2000

and 2008 Taiwanese presidential spots, as well as in the 2004 and 2008 debates

(Benoit, Wen, & Yu, 2007; Wen, Benoit, & Yu, 2004; Wen & Yu, 2008, 2009).

34 Wei-Chun Wen

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The finding of the current study on Facebook during and after the 2012 Taiwaneseelection suggests a consistent pattern across all three media.

Given that Taiwan shares a common Confucian cultural heritage with many EastAsian societies, such as mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, andVietnam (Inoguchi & Shin, 2009; Pan, 2009), the above political findings in Taiwancould apply to these regions as well. The repeated pattern of emphasizing candidatecharacter, especially personal qualities, in Taiwan’s election campaigns can be testedin future case studies of political communication in East Asia.

Influence of role and political situation

The influence of role and political situation on functions, topics, and subtopics appearedin the comparisons of election and post-election Facebook posts. The changes inproportions of functions were consistent with the roles of Ma and Tsai. As mentioned,the incumbent generally acclaims and defends more than the challenger does, and thechallenger tends to attack more than the incumbent does during the election.

As Table 2 shows, after the election, the re-elected President Ma further increasedhis proportions of acclaims and defenses, and the opposition leader Tsai increased herproportion of attacks. It seems to fit the concept of a permanent campaign with the re-elected president and the opposition leader still focused on the position of presidencyafter the election. However, the political landscape provided plausible reasons for theincrease of acclaims and defenses in the incumbent’s messages and the increase ofattacks in the challenger’s messages. First, due to several sudden shifts in policyannounced by the Ma administration shortly after the election, Ma’s popularitydropped 30% in opinion polls (Manthorpe, 2012). This situation led the opposition toengage in considerable criticism of the government. It also forced the Maadministration to engage in a broad range of defending and acclaiming activities torepair and rebuild the government’s image. Second, as there was no immediateelection pressure, the opposition party could issue more attacks on the governmentwithout worrying too much about possible backlashes.

The above situation also provided reasonable explanations for the changes topolicy subtopics after the election. As Table 2 shows, after the election, the re-electedPresident Ma decreased his proportion of policy utterances on past deeds, whileopposition leader Tsai almost doubled her proportion of policy utterances on pastdeeds. Close inspection of Tsai’s Facebook messages revealed that the change ofproportion was primarily due to an increase of attacks on Ma’s past deeds. In short,again, the unpopularity of Ma’s after-election policy performance and the lack ofimmediate election pressure led to the changes in the function and the policysubtopics of Facebook messages.

The contrasts between Ma and Tsai’s topic emphases after the election might alsobe attributed to situational factors. As Table 2 shows, Ma’s Facebook containedmore policy utterances than character ones during and after the election. However,Tsai’s Facebook emphasized policy more than character during the election, yetstressed character over policy after the election. The severe challenges after theelection might have kept Ma’s focus on policy utterances. The opposition leader Tsairesigned her position as party chairperson to take responsibility for losing theelection, while maintaining her enormous popularity among supporters (Wang,2012). Although Tsai continued to give political advice based on her influence on the

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opposition party, it is a reasonable choice for a former chair to talk more on charactertopics than policy to maintain her popularity without getting into policycontroversies. Thus, both politicians continued their Facebook campaign messageseven after the election, yet in different ways due to their roles and the situation.

The Confucian cultural backgroundmight also have caused different expectationsof the two politicians. In Book VIII of The Analects, Confucius said, “Do not concernyourself with matters of government unless they are the responsibility of the office youare in” (Confucius, 1992). In other words, the roles are distinguished based on whetherthe politicians are in office. Accordingly, PresidentMa, who kept his position after theelection, was expected to emphasize policy topics, yet DPPChairwoman Tsai, who lefther office after the election, was not expected to address policies frequently.

Conclusion

The current study confirmed some general campaign message patterns, extended theunderstanding of political communication on Facebook, and challenged the politicalconcept of permanent campaign. First, the candidates’ Facebook messages for the2012 Taiwanese presidential election confirmed the general patterns of more acclaims,some attacks, and rare defenses were among the three fundamental functions ofcampaign messages. The pattern that incumbents tend to acclaim and defend morethan challengers, while challengers tend to attack more than incumbents, was alsoconfirmed. Second, political communication on Facebook during the 2012 Taiwaneseelection can be observed in two forms: 1.0 messages (candidate messages), whichfocused more on policy over character, and 2.0 messages (candidate messageshighlighted by interaction on Facebook), which stressed character more than policy.Finally, comparative analyses of the politicians’ Facebook pages during and after theelection revealed that although they continued their campaigning for popularity afterthe election, the functions, topics, and subtopics varied based on their roles andsituations. Thus, the concept of permanent campaign might indicate the feature ofcontinuousness, yet the substantial characteristics of campaigning in different periodsneed to be further clarified through more sophisticated analytical work on campaignmessages.

Notes on contributor

Wei-Chun Wen (PhD, University of Missouri-Columbia, USA) is an associate professor in theDepartment of Speech Communication at Shih Hsin University, Taiwan. His major researchinterests include political communication, rhetorical criticism, crisis communication, and image

repair discourse. His has published communication research inArgumentation, Asian Journal ofCommunication, Chinese Journal of Communication, Communication Monographs, andCommunication Studies.

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