Are politicians politically engaged? Analysis of the political engagement 2.0 developed through Facebook

Summary

Social networks enable a fast and close relationship between candidates and citizens, which is enhanced if the former encourage dialogue and participation of the latter, i.e., they have a political engagement 2.0. In order to measure this engagement in Facebook, we developed a scale validated through a content analysis of the posts published by the main candidates of two elections for governor in different Mexican states. The results show that Facebook is used by electoral candidates more to spread their proposals and reflections than as a scenario to promote citizen participation through the exchange of ideas.