Social Media and Politics
Social Media and Politics is a research topic within Communication. Science Explorer counts 53k research works in it since 1950. 34.1% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.
This cluster of papers explores the impact of digital media, particularly social media, on public discourse, political participation, and the concept of deliberative democracy. It delves into topics such as the digital divide, online communication, civic engagement, and the role of information technology in shaping the public sphere.
- Social Media
- Digital Divide
- Political Participation
- Deliberative Democracy
- Online Communication
- Media Use
- Information Technology
- Civic Engagement
- Networked Individualism
- Internet Access
- Research works
- 53k fractional, since 1950
- In the world top 10%
- 18k per year above
- Top-10% rate
- 34.1% share of its works in the world top 10%
- Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
- +32% the tick is no change
Which countries lead Social Media and Politics research?
By volume, the United States and Germany publish the most (2.7k and 774 works in 2022–2025).
By volume, 2022–2025
- 1 United States 2.7k works
- 2 Germany 774 works
- 3 China 721 works
- 4 United Kingdom 704 works
- 5 Brazil 650 works
- 6 Spain 566 works
- 7 Türkiye 543 works
- 8 Indonesia 394 works
- 9 Australia 361 works
- 10 India 348 works
How concentrated that is
The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.
Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.
Which institutions lead Social Media and Politics research?
By volume in 2022–2025, University of Amsterdam publishes the most Social Media and Politics research, followed by University of Zurich and University of Vienna.
By volume, 2022–2025
- 1 University of AmsterdamNetherlands 69 works
- 2 University of ZurichSwitzerland 52 works
- 3 University of ViennaAustria 49 works
- 4 Universidad Complutense de MadridSpain 48 works
- 5 The University of Texas at AustinUnited States 46 works
- 6 University of HelsinkiFinland 43 works
- 7 University of MichiganUnited States 39 works
- 8 Pennsylvania State UniversityUnited States 39 works
- 9 Universitat de ValènciaSpain 38 works
- 10 University of Wisconsin–MadisonUnited States 36 works
Who are the leading researchers in Social Media and Politics?
The most-cited researchers publishing on Social Media and Politics include David R. Karger, Jure Leskovec and Mark D. Griffiths.
- 1 David R. Karger United States 5.2k citations
- 2 Jure Leskovec United States 4.3k citations
- 3 Mark D. Griffiths United Kingdom 3.3k citations
Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.
Where is Social Media and Politics research done?
The largest centres of Social Media and Politics research in 2022–2025 are London (United Kingdom), Beijing (China), Madrid (Spain) and Istanbul (Türkiye). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Roskilde, Ariel and Mannheim.
Largest cities, 2022–2025
Where it is the local speciality
- RoskildeDK · 29.4 works14×
- ArielIL · 21.2 works13×
- MannheimDE · 34.8 works12×
Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Social Media and Politics than the world average.
Where is the best place to study Social Media and Politics?
Among universities, judged by research, University of Amsterdam, University of Vienna and University of Zurich score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.
One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.
| # | University | Score | Top 10% | Specialisation | Works | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of AmsterdamNetherlands | 89.5 | 69.2% | 10.6× | 69 | +100.3% |
| 2 | University of ViennaAustria | 82.5 | 60.1% | 8.1× | 49 | +194.1% |
| 3 | University of ZurichSwitzerland | 75.5 | 50.5% | 7.8× | 52 | +131.1% |
| 4 | University of CanberraAustralia | 73.1 | 52.6% | 11.6× | 23 | +145.4% |
| 5 | OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan UniversityNorway | 70.0 | 50.3% | 13.2× | 16 | +143.5% |
| 6 | Universitat Pompeu FabraSpain | 67.6 | 43.8% | 9.0× | 18 | +185.7% |
| 7 | University of GroningenNetherlands | 67.5 | 53.5% | 4.8× | 30 | +251.5% |
| 8 | University of MannheimGermany | 67.5 | 55.2% | 16.8× | 19 | +60.5% |
| 9 | University of AntwerpBelgium | 67.3 | 51.7% | 7.2× | 26 | +117.6% |
| 10 | Hong Kong Baptist UniversityHong Kong | 66.2 | 39.5% | 9.2× | 22 | +91.4% |
Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.
Is Social Media and Politics research growing?
Output in 2018–2022 was 32% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2023. The fastest-growing topics are Social Media and Politics.
The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.
Which topics inside it are moving
Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.