The social media election: A statistical analysis of social media communications during the 2019 Canadian federal election

Abstract

As the industry of political communications redefines itself in the digital age, it is important to ensure scholars can continue to measure its effectiveness. In this study, the author uses data analytics and statistics to find connections and correlations between social media variables and the results of the Liberal Party of Canada’s (LPC) 2019 federal elections campaign. The uniqueness of this study is that the author doesn’t look at just one politician, or one region, but at 338 campaigns running at the same time all striving for the same election outcomes. Using standardized data, the study measures the performance of all 338 LPC candidates’ social media presences in relation to raising money for their campaign, gaining positive public opinion and ultimately being elected as a Member of Parliament. The author built a comprehensive database that houses publicly available data, which has more than 272,000 records. The results revealed that the presence of a political candidate on social media, the number of times they post, the popularity of their posts and the use of photos and videos have significant correlations with positive election outcomes.