Civil engagement: Facebook page analysis of the HDZ, SDP and MOST during the election campaign for parliament in 2015

Tema ovoga rada je politička komunikacija na Facebooku u vrijeme predizborne kampanje za Parlament 2015. godine u Hrvatskoj. Cilj ovoga istraživanja je saznati jesu li stranke HDZ, SDP i MOST putem svojih objava na Facebooku poticale građane da se uključe u političke aktivnosti te jesu li željele povećati interes javnosti za politiku. Koristeći kvantitativnu analizu sadržaja i literaturu o online političkoj komunikaciji i uključenosti građana u politiku, ovaj rad istražuje: a) u kojoj su mjeri i na koji način hrvat¬ske političke stranke u kampanji za parlamentarne izbore 2015. koristile Facebook u svrhu političkog marketinga i b) u kojoj su mjeri i na koji način hrvatske političke stranke koristile Facebook u svrhu interakcije s biračima i njihova uključivanja u politički proces. Analiza je pokazala kako stranke nisu koristile Facebook u svrhu interakcije s biračima, već u svrhu promocije. Rezultati potvrđuju tvrdnje da upotreba Facebooka u svrhu povećanja uključenosti građana u politiku ne ispunjava očekivanja jer je element interaktivnosti u većini zanemaren.Subject matter of this thesis is political communication on Facebook in pre-election campaign for Parliament in Croatia in 2015. Purpose of the research is to find out have political parties HDZ, SDP and MOST tried to encourage civic engagement in political activities and increase public interest in politics through their Facebook posts. Undertaking a quantitative content analysis and literature on online political communication and civic engagement in politics, this thesis explores a) how and to what extent did Croatian political parties used Facebook as a political marketing tool in pre-election campaign for Parliament in 2015 and b) how and to what extent did Croatian political parties used Facebook to interact with their voters with purpose of including them to a political process. Analysis indicates that political parties did not use Facebook to interact with their voters, but to promote themselves. Results confirm assertions that Facebook usage as a tool of civic engagement does not meet the expectations due to the neglection of interactivity