October 27, 2020
Tamihere Facebook fixture for election push
If you thought Māori Party co-leader John Tamihere was everywhere on Facebook during the election, you weren’t wrong.
A study by Victoria University political scientists Jack Vowles and Mona Krewel found the former talkback host posted 188 times during the campaign, 100 more than Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
In total the party generated 427 posts compared with 465 for Labour.
National generated 399 official posts.
Dr Krewel says it shows a minor party like the Māori Party can make up for a smaller budget when they have a very engaged user of social media in their ranks.
Of the more than 3000 Facebook posts examined, fewer than 20 were judged fake news and 75 were half truths.
The study was part of an international study of politicians’ use of social media.
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