French Primary Elections and the Internet, the Social Network of the Socialist Party, the Coopol

Beyond traditional places for exchanges within organizations (for example, ward or branch meetings), virtual communication forums give members of political parties an opportunity to express their opinions on line. The social network of the Parti Socialiste (PS) in France, the Coopol, was created on January 12, 2010, and seems to hold out new prospects for public debate. The mediated exchanges which took place on this platform have allowed us to analyze the political debate among activists between July and October 2011. The results are based on different types of data (statistical analysis of text, web surveys and qualitative interviews) gathered while observing the debate on the forum and through interviews with voters and activists. The rationale for the use of three different approaches is related to the fact that the article presents several studies that can be evaluated in their totality, but should be taken singly in each case. The information provided by this article makes it an important case study which explains in an empirical way the latest theoretical approaches within this research field.