Abstract
This paper aims to probe how leaders of Brexit (Nigel Farage) and Bremain (David Cameron) camps communicated with the UK public via Facebook fan pages. This study employed two different types of data analysis (social network analysis and semantic network analysis) for exploring the structure and the contents of information diffusion process. These analyses yielded the opposite results. For social network analysis, Bremain Camp showed a preponderance regarding the numbers of commentators, their relationships and network distance. Conversely, for the semantic network analysis, the results suggested that Brexit-related framings were salient in both leaders’ Facebook fan pages. In other words, even though these two leaders have different perspectives and opinions to the Brexit, both Facebook fan pages eventually promoted Brexit campaigns to their followers. In addition, this study was able to find out Brexiters strategically approached and effectively persuaded a substantial pool of Bremainers.
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Notes
Article 50 of Treaty of Lisbon are as follows:
1. Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements.
2. A Member State which decides to withdraw shall notify the European Council of its intention. In the light of the guidelines provided by the European Council, the Union shall negotiate and conclude an agreement with that State, setting out the arrangements for its withdrawal, taking account of the framework for its future relationship with the Union. That agreement shall be negotiated in accordance with Article 218(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. It shall be concluded on behalf of the Union by the Council, acting by a qualified majority, after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament.
3. The Treaties shall cease to apply to the State in question from the date of entry into force of the withdrawal agreement or, failing that, two years after the notification referred to in paragraph 2, unless the European Council, in agreement with the Member State concerned, unanimously decides to extend this period.
4. For the purposes of paragraphs 2 and 3, the member of the European Council or of the Council representing the withdrawing Member State shall not participate in the discussions of the European Council or Council or in decisions concerning it.
A qualified majority shall be defined in accordance with Article 238(3)(b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
5. If a State which has withdrawn from the Union asks to rejoin, its request shall be subject to the procedure referred to in Article 49.
For more information, see http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A12012M050
Bremain is a blend terminology between Britain and Remain which means the UK remaining in the European Union.
In Moreno’s sociogramme, girls are presented as circles and boys are presented as triangles. Links represent best friends. Top line defines group border. In social network analysis, nodes are presented as dots and ties are represented as lines.
Abbreviations
- SNA:
-
social network analysis
- SNS:
-
social networking services
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Acknowledgements
This paper is supported by Korea University Grant in 2019.
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Sung-Hoon PARK is the first author: validation, writing-review and editing, supervision.
Sung-Won YOON is the participating author: conceptualisation, validation, data curation, writing-review and editing, supervision.
Sae Won CHUNG is the corresponding author: conceptualisation, methodology and software, validation, formalisation, data curation, writing-original draft preparation, visualisation and project administration.
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Park, SH., Yoon, SW. & Chung, S.W. Social and semantic network analysis of Facebook pages: the case of Brexit and Bremain leaders. Asia Eur J 18, 479–492 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10308-019-00567-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10308-019-00567-x