Exploring the Social Media Impact of Voting Advice Apps: A Case Study on the Representation of the Wahl-O-Mat on Twitter

Abstract

Voting Advice Applications (VAAs) are web-based tools designed to help voters to find a political party that matches their political views. In the past decade, VAAs have been developed in several countries in order to stimulate political discussion especially among the young and to facilitate a voting decision. At the same time, social media such as Twitter play an increasingly important role for political discussion and opinion formation. The aim of the present research is to explore the interplay of VAAs and social media. We analyzed 500 tweets regarding the main VAA in Germany, the ‘Wahl-O-Mat’, during the pre-election phase of the federal state election in North Rhine Westphalia. As a main result, we discovered that tweets that recommended the app as a product did not obtain high levels of social impact, whereas tweets with self-portrayal content (e.g., posting one’s own VAA result) elicited more engagement by other twitter users. Further results are interpreted through the lens of psychological theories. Finally, we outline practical implications for potential product improvement of the Wahl-O-Mat. Altogether, the present paper highlights the importance of integrating psychological research in the process of VAA development.