𝕊𝕥𝕦𝕕𝕪 𝕣𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕤 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕙 𝕓𝕚𝕘 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕪 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕞𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕟𝕖𝕘𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕖

ℂ𝕙𝕣𝕚𝕤 ℍ𝕚𝕡𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕤’ ℂ𝕠𝕧𝕚𝕕 𝕥𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕨𝕖𝕖𝕜𝕖𝕟𝕕 𝕨𝕒𝕤𝕟’𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕃𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕔𝕒𝕞𝕡𝕒𝕚𝕘𝕟, 𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕦𝕝𝕥𝕤 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℕ𝕖𝕨 ℤ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕊𝕠𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕝 𝕄𝕖𝕕𝕚𝕒 𝕊𝕥𝕦𝕕𝕪.

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ore than 1550 Facebook posts by political parties and their leaders have been analysed by a team from Victoria University of Wellington, with National proving to be far more negative than Labour during this election campaign so far.

When subtracting negative posts from positive posts between September 11-24, 63% of Labour’s Facebook posts included positive self-presentation.

Meanwhile, just 5.5% of National’s posts are positive.

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These results are not unexpected, given Labour is the incumbent and National is wanting to change the government, says Dr Mona Krewel, who is leading the study.

“Results show National is far more negative than Labour, which is campaigning from an incumbent’s position and that means mostly staying positive and trying to emphasise achievements in government,” she said.

LOTO Luxon's social media posts have been 94.5% negative. Where 5.5% of national posts are positive

Krewel adds negative campaigning is not necessarily a bad thing and can be part of the job description for challenger parties.

“Criticising a government, or pointing out public mismanagement, and providing voters with electoral alternatives are key functions of democratic campaigning and may help voters to make informed voting decisions,” she said.

Similar trends have emerged when looking at Facebook posts by Labour leader Chris Hipkins and National leader Christopher Luxon.

“As the opposition leader, Luxon attacks more frequently than Hipkins, though the difference is less pronounced than in posts by their parties,” Krewel said.

“There is a clear division of tasks in the case of National here: Luxon leaves it to his party to attack and does so less frequently himself.”

Most of the negative Facebook posts from both sides of the political divide have been about the economy and each party’s ability to manage it.

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Has Facebook actually been nicer than the real world?

Overall, Krewel says social media campaigning appears to be far less negative than the campaigning out on the road.

“From what we’re seeing on the campaign trail, you get the impression we are dealing with a pretty rough campaign this time,” she said.

“Election billboards are being vandalised. Labour candidate Angela Roberts got slapped in the face at a local election debate. Te Pāti Māori candidate Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke reported break-ins at her home and an intruder leaving a threatening message.”

But on social media, positive campaigning currently still outweighs negative campaigning so far.

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