Evolving in step or poles apart? Online audiences and networking during Poland and France 2011-12 election campaign

International audienceComparative studies are rare in the study of online communication campaigning. The authors chose twocases, Poland and France, to describe the two campaigns for the Parliamentary elections. Content analysisallowed the authors to detect online communication strategies and parties’ attempt to reach different audiences.Web-cartography illustrates the parties’ network connections. The authors find strong cross-countryand resource-based differences for the more interactive and engaging features (Web 2.0), which are not thatpowerful for explaining audience-targeting strategies. Overall a sales strategy and a focus on marketingdominated over e-representation (exhibiting the parties’ political record). In both countries social mediaplatforms are well incorporated into online strategies. Facebook dominates in Poland, Twitter in France. Webcartography gives a counterintuitive picture of the Polish parties’ network being much more personalized butalso of more ghettoing within the supporting environment