Ich poste, also wähl' mich!

This study investigates the communication strategies of German political parties on Facebook during the federal election campaign in 2013. Based on a model of digital communication in election campaigns designed by the author, it provides a detailed analysis of the topics, actors and instruments involved in election campaigning on social media. Using qualitative as well as quantitative social science research methods, the study relates the contents and objectives of the campaign to the reactions of potential voters. Analysing the debates that evolved from the posts by the political parties, the study provides important insights and knowledge, not only for further research but also for the future planning of social media campaigns.
The research results not only reveal considerable differences in the campaign management between established actors and newcomer parties, but also confirm German parties' overall lack of dialogue and orientation towards demand. Instead of using the deliberative potential of network publicity, they merely seemed to reproduce the tried-and-tested marketing strategies of their offline campaign in the digital world.