Profile Politics: Examining Polarization through Congressional Member Facebook Pages

It is increasingly apparent that polarization is on the rise within American political institutions. Less clear is the impact that social media sites such as Facebook have on the political processes that affect polarization. This chapter looks at how some members of Congress use Facebook to interact with their constituents. While technology changes, the motives of members remains the same. Communication with constituents, regardless of the medium, is tempered by members’ desires to remain in office and also to potentially have legislative influence. In this chapter, I argue that Facebook changes the ways in which citizens connect with each other, and, as such, changes the ways in which members connect with their constituents. Rather than encourage polarization of the political electorate, Facebook communication between constituents and members more often reinforces a personalization of the political process. Using Fenno’s home style thesis, I argue that Facebook expands the ability of members to connect with constituents, in ways that often have nothing to do with politics. This typically comes at the expense of other forms of communication, those who involve listening to constituent concerns and ideas.