A Possible Framework for Attention-Based Politics: A Field for Research

Abstract

According to scholars, the use of mediatization could be understood as a communicative representation of politicians or spin doctoring, but either way, it ends in self-representation and in “self-initiated stage-management.” However, the social media environment could give a new perspective on the communication of the political actors in political communication. This communication could be seen as self-broadcasting that could be conceptualized as attention-based politics. This article aims to give a brief introduction to a theoretical framework of the phenomenon and to provide research directions in order to understand politician's strategies in attraction, maximization, and the direction the attention of followers and journalists.