Blogs as a Tool of Political Communication: Case of the Members of the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania

Abstract

Blogs signifies a starting point at which interactive media have become firmly established in the processes of political communication providing new opportunities for the expansion in the field of political discourse and its availability for various interested groups or single individuals. Today political blogs, which have become a regular phenomenon in the world, are useful for political actors in the establishment and maintenance of contacts with new potential audiences of voters, as well as in the maintenance of a constant inter-communication between politicians and the public. This article concentrates on the possibility of an application of blogs for political communication processes, as well as the analysis of the interaction features in these virtual channels. The general characteristics of blogs and their defining properties are specifically defined, and their different types, as well as possible dimensions of the analysis, are distinguished in the article. Moreover, a detailed analysis of the benefits granted for politicians by blogs, as well as an examination of the relationship between political blogs and traditional media and their interconnection, is presented. At the end of the publication survey results of the blog use among the Members of the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania are listed, and these results reveal a small exploitation of this interactive tool for the purposes of political communication in our country.