Citizens' use of Twitter in political information sharing in South Korea

This study examined citizens’ use of social networking site Twitter in political information sharing in South Korea. Content analysis was used in classifying message types and sentiments from the most frequently re-tweeted (RT) messages including the names of three top political leaders running for general elections in 2012. Correlation analysis comparing citizens’ use of Twitter in political information sharing online with results of public opinion polls offline indicated: 1) the volume and magnitude of re-tweeted messages are significantly correlated with results of public opinion polls; 2) types of messages are not correlated with the public opinion polling results; 3) positive and negative sentiment revealed in Twitter messages are highly correlated with the results of public opinion polls. Findings from this case study provide insights into citizens’ use of Twitter in political communication.published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe