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The Growing Influence of Facebook in Political Campaigns in the Caribbean

THE ROLE OF MAINSTREAM MEDIA IN ELECTION campaigns has been one of the most studied areas in political communication. Some studies have pointed to their importance in drawing attention to candidates and their tremendous power in determining which news, events, candidates and issues are covered in any given day;1 their agenda effects,2 which predict that elements which are important in the media agenda will become important in the public agenda;3 their framing effects,4 selecting and highlighting some facets of issues and events and making connections so as to promote a particular interpretation, evaluation and solution in order to influence what people think, know and have feelings about;5 and their mediatised effects,6 which indicate that the media shape the processes and discourses of political communication as well as the society in which that communication takes place. However, theorists caution that it is difficult to find clear evidence that the media decisively influence the outcome of elections, though they can easily influence them.7 Over the last decade, social media, especially Facebook, are fast becoming the most popular media for electioneering. They are considered as platforms for political engagement and civic participation of voters.8 Researchers have examined how elections campaigns unfold, how candidates are embedded in communication networks and how they interact among themselves and the public.9 Some studies have investigated the way that politicians utilise social networking sites as political platforms during election campaigns mostly to disseminate information.10 Since Barack Obama’s 2008 election campaign, social networking sites in political contexts have been hailed for their democratic and participatory potential11 and for increasing the public’s engagement with