Comparative analysis of Lithuanian Parliamentary political parties' communication on the internet

This Master thesis is an examination and a comparative analysis of Lithuanian parliamentary political parties’ communication on the internet in a season when no elections take place. The aim is to determine whether political parties exploit the opportunities provided by the Internet and Social Media tools to inform, persuade and mobilize potential voters. The research consists of two parts. First, political party websites are investigated to determine the level of functionality, design and delivery. Second, parties’ Facebook pages are unpacked using the honeycomb model of seven functional building blocks helping to evaluate the relevance of their social communication. It is argued that modern political communication returns to the people-intensive permanent campaigns and Internet with Social Media are the tools driving this change. The study reveals that Lithuanian parliamentary political parties exploit the new media tools in their daily communication to the masses. However, only a few reveal having strategic and disciplined orientation towards engaging democratic model of communication