10.6 Göbel & Munzert (2018) Political Advertising on the Wikipedia Marketplace of Information

• Göbel, Sascha, and Simon Munzert. 2018. “Political Advertising on the Wikipedia Marketplace of Information.” Social Science Computer Review 36 (2): 157–75.

• Q: Whats the topic of this study?

• What is the research question?
  • General: Is Wikipedia joining the ranks of social networking services as political communication devices and tools for electoral campaigning?
  • Specific: Who, when, how much is edited?
• What data do they use?
  • “We trace changes to biographies coming from the parliament using data that cover the entire edit histories for biographies on all German members of parliament for the three last legislative periods.”
• What is their finding?
  • “Our findings show editing of personal biographies to be a persistent phenomenon. Moreover, type, timing, and driving factors of editing behavior highlight the importance politicians’ attribute to Wikipedia for pursuing reelection. Our results speak to the domains of political professionalization, voting behavior, and the general measurement of communicative patterns.”