{"title":"Cannabis-Related Political Discourse on Twitter: A Mixed Methods Approach","authors":"Nicholas Athey","doi":"10.1177/00220426241249091","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Twitter is a widely used platform for following current events and prominent celebrities, influencers, and political leaders. Politicians use Twitter to share their viewpoints and disseminate information about legislative changes, prompting inquiries into their role in influencing public opinion on social media. This study examines a set of cannabis-related tweets ( n = 10,410) authored by current U.S. Governors and members of Congress (as of March 2022) to understand the nature of political discourse on social media. The dataset is analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics, while a subsample ( n = 1714) is subject to a qualitative thematic analysis. Most tweets are informative and neutral in tone, although some politicians use non-neutral language to convey their message. Cannabis tweets can be categorized into six themes: economy, government/governing process, public health, justice, substance use/abuse, and other. The results have implications for future research and our understanding of political discourse on social media.","PeriodicalId":15626,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Drug Issues","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Drug Issues","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00220426241249091","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"SUBSTANCE ABUSE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Twitter is a widely used platform for following current events and prominent celebrities, influencers, and political leaders. Politicians use Twitter to share their viewpoints and disseminate information about legislative changes, prompting inquiries into their role in influencing public opinion on social media. This study examines a set of cannabis-related tweets ( n = 10,410) authored by current U.S. Governors and members of Congress (as of March 2022) to understand the nature of political discourse on social media. The dataset is analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics, while a subsample ( n = 1714) is subject to a qualitative thematic analysis. Most tweets are informative and neutral in tone, although some politicians use non-neutral language to convey their message. Cannabis tweets can be categorized into six themes: economy, government/governing process, public health, justice, substance use/abuse, and other. The results have implications for future research and our understanding of political discourse on social media.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Drug Issues (JDI) was incorporated as a nonprofit entity in the State of Florida in 1971. In 1996, JDI was transferred to the Florida State University College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, and the Richard L. Rachin Endowment was established to support its continued publication. Since its inception, JDI has been dedicated to providing a professional and scholarly forum centered on the national and international problems associated with drugs, especially illicit drugs. It is a refereed publication with international contributors and subscribers. As a leader in its field, JDI is an instrument widely used by research scholars, public policy analysts, and those involved in the day-to-day struggle against the problem of drug abuse.