Twitter and Political Communication in Korea: Are Members of the Assembly Doing What They Say?

Members of the Korean National Assembly post to Twitter, but we really do not know how or what they say on this increasingly popular social media vehicle. We test the Downsian spatial model by asking whether officials communicate in ways which differentiate themselves from members of the opposite party in order to provide a clear distinction when it comes time for individuals to vote. We also compare parties on this strategy and measure the effect on audience size. We discover that there are no inconsistencies between communication and action, which is counter to our expectations. We also find that the popularity of liberal members of the Assembly seems to increase when they provide information rather than attempting to pull the median voter in a leftward direction. There is, thus, little opposition to a continued rightward shift of the median voter.