%0 Journal Article
%T Malcolm Turnbull¡¯s conversational career on Twitter: the case of the Australian Prime Minister and the NBN
%A Angus Jolly
%A Caroline Fisher
%A Glen Fuller
%J Media International Australia
%@ 2200-467X
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/1329878X18766081
%X Politicians¡¯ use of Twitter during election periods has been extensively researched. There has been less scholarly focus on the way politicians¡¯ use of Twitter changes depending on their political circumstances. This article reports on an analysis of Malcolm Turnbull¡¯s Twitter account from October 2008 to July 2016 examining his ¡®engagement¡¯ in terms of ¡®conversations¡¯ with political journalists, specialist technology writers and other Twitter users. It found Turnbull ¡®conversed¡¯ with the general public more than elites and revealed heated exchanges with specialist technology writers about the National Broadband Network (NBN) and more genial ¡®banter¡¯ with political journalists. It also showed a peak in ¡®conversations¡¯ when he was Shadow Minister for Communications and a sharp decline once he became Minister for Communications and then Prime Minister. This article points to the need for further long-duration research to better understand the impact of changing political contexts on politicians¡¯ use of social media
%K authenticity
%K conversation analysis
%K engagement
%K Malcolm Turnbull
%K politician
%K Twitter
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1329878X18766081