The new political channels of communication : a study in social media's importance for the Swedish parliamentary elections in 2010

Aim: To investigate how three of the biggest political parties in Sweden made use of socialmedia in the election campaign in 2010, and to get a picture of how the parties perceive therole of social media in political communication today and in the future.Method: The research is conducted through personal interviews and qualitative textualanalysis.Theory: The theory that the study is based on is Habermas theory of the public sphereMain results: Social media is today an excellent channel for communication and informationbetween politicians and voters, and they will probably become increasingly important inpolitical communication in the future. So far, they are only an addition to the traditional mediaand are in no way substituted for them. Internet and some social media is an excellent forumfor political debate and opinion-former