PLEAD 2013: politics, elections and data

Abstract

What is the role of the internet in politics general and during campaigns in particular? And what is the role of large amounts of user data in all of this? In the 2008 and 2012 U.S. presidential campaigns the Democrats were far more successful than the Republicans in utilizing online media for mobilization, co-ordination and fundraising. Year over year, social media and the Internet plays a fundamental role in political campaigns. However, technical research in this area is still limited and fragmented. The goal of this workshop is to bring together researchers working at the intersection of social network analysis, computational social science and political science, to share and discuss their ideas in a common forum; and to inspire further developments in this growing, fascinating field.