Digital Papers: MPs on Facebook

This new research paper 'MPs on Facebook' is the first in a new series of Digital Papers and examines how parliamentarians are using social media. In this paper, we describe how MPs are largely using Facebook as a one-way publishing medium and how this ignores the real benefits of social media. In our view, the key to harnessing this new generation of tools is conversation and engagement; where citizens can communicate with their MPs and get a response. Most MPs have a long way to go before they can claim to truly understand the power of social media.

MPs on Facebook shows that while over half (51%) of Liberal Democrat MPs have a presence on Facebook, the figures for Labour and the Conservatives are 15% and 9%, respectively. The research identified three main types of usage: campaigning, communication and personal:

• 46% of MPs are using Facebook primarily as a communications tool
• 31% of MPs are using Facebook primarily to canvas and campaign
• 13% of MPs are using Facebook primarily for personal information
• 10% of MPs’ Facebook pages are ‘inactive’
  

The research also examined the frequency and nature of online activity of MPs’ Facebook pages:

• 42% of MPs publish at least one item daily
• 17% regularly make multiple posts in the same day
• 23% publish no more than once a week
• 6% publish less than that

Download the report now: Digital Papers: MPs on Facebook