{"id":87202,"date":"2020-11-06T15:28:18","date_gmt":"2020-11-06T21:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/?p=87202"},"modified":"2024-09-27T10:00:10","modified_gmt":"2024-09-27T15:00:10","slug":"social-media-changing-the-nature-of-the-political-concession-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/social-media-changing-the-nature-of-the-political-concession-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"Social media changing the nature of the political concession speech"},"content":{"rendered":"

While elections may determine winners and losers, the concession speech typically brings a symbolic end to a political campaign.<\/p>\n

There are no legal or constitutional requirements<\/a> for losing candidates to concede. Rather, concession speeches grew into rituals on election night in the early 1950s as televisions became more ubiquitous in American homes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe performance of the concession ritual is about conferring legitimacy on the democratic process and healing the ruptures that arise as a normal outcome of the political process,\u201d said Michael Mirer, a visiting assistant professor of journalism.<\/p>\n

Social media may be changing those ceremonial conventions.<\/p>\n

Mirer\u2019s research interests include social media and political communication. He found in a 2013 study published in the journal New Media & Society<\/a> that norms and themes traditionally associated with concession speeches, like having the losing candidate speak before the winner and call for unity, have eroded as platforms like Twitter took on a larger role in politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese findings have implications for the practice of politics online, and especially in the social media environment,\u201d the authors said in the study<\/a>, which was based on an analysis of 200 Twitter feeds of congressional, senatorial and gubernatorial candidates during the 2010 midterm election.<\/p>\n

A more fragile system<\/h3>\n

A decade later, social media holds even more sway as a political communications tool and American politics is as polarized and contentious as ever.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things that has changed since the paper was written is that the political system seems a lot more fragile,\u201d Mirer said. \u201cAll norms are voluntary, and that includes concession.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1952, Adlai Stevenson gave the first nationally television concession speech<\/a> in American history after losing to Dwight D. Eisenhower.<\/p>\n

In recent presidential elections, losing candidates Mitt Romney in 2012 and Hillary Clinton in 2016 followed the traditional script in delivering their concessions.<\/p>\n

As of Friday morning, a winner had yet to be determined in the bitterly contested race between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden. Trump by far has had a more robust presence on social media.<\/p>\n

Norms changing<\/h3>\n

In his study, Mirer found that a concession delivered on social media was less likely to include norms like congratulating opponents and pledging to work together. Expressing those sentiments allows a losing candidate to at least symbolically create an opportunity to move forward.<\/p>\n

Instead, a concession on social media was more likely to thank supporters and pledge to continue to advocate for their issues. \u201cFrom a presumed audience perspective, this is explained by the social media audience being more partisan,\u201d Mirer said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Twitter behavior becomes the standard for the behavior of politicians in real life,\u201d he added, \u201cwe end up with a coarser politics less equipped to take on big problems.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The concession speech, a staple of American political life since the 1950s, has served to mark the end of a political fight and beginning of reconciliation. 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