Going negative across platforms and time: Assessing the supply and demand of
negative campaigning

This study investigates dynamics of negative campaigning by Norwegian political
parties on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter from 2013 to 2024. Analysing 89,791
posts from nine major parties, it uses a novel content analysis approach combining
Large Language Models (LLMs) and human annotation to categorize posts as negative,
positive or neutral. The findings show an overall rise in negative campaigning across
platforms, with significant changes following leadership shifts in the right-wing populist
Progress Party (PP). The study examines engagement levels, measured by likes, for
different content types. Initially, negative content attracted more engagement on
Facebook. This trend, however, decreased over time, while Instagram saw increased
engagement with negative content during later years. Twitter users appeared to
have rather consistently favoured negative content, reflecting its reputation for
incivility. The article enhances understanding of political communication strategies in
a high-choice media environment, emphasizing the need to tailor campaign strategies
to platform-specific user dynamics.

Available open access here.

Also, this.

This coming tuesday, April 14th, sees me taking the long trek to Montréal to where I have been invited to speak at The Centre for the Study of Democratic Citizenship (CSDC). I also look forward to working on a couple of ongoing projects with Mireille Lalancette and Éric Bélanger, and to interact with graduate students working on dissertations related to political communication. … And also to revisit a certain mural.

Looks like I will be heading to Cape Town in June:

Monzer, Cristina and Larsson, Anders Olof (2026). Gendered Body Representation on Political TikTok videos: A cross-national comparison of Norway and Romania. Abstract accepted for presentation at the 76th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA). 4-8 June, Cape Town, South Africa.

Larsson, Anders Olof (2026). Asking for Action Across Platforms – A Longitudinal Study of Political Party Calls to Action across Social Media. Paper accepted for presentation at the 76th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA). 4-8 June, Cape Town, South Africa.

Bene, Márton; Illés, Gábo, Russmann, Uta; Baranowski, Pawel; Hassler, Jörg; Bos, Linda; Linaa Jensen, Jakob; Kruschinski, Simon; Larsson, Anders Olof; Pospíšil Macková, Alena and Dutceac Segesten, Anamaria (2026). Constructing Representation: Political Actors’ Representative Style on Facebook During European and National Election Campaigns. Paper accepted for presentation at the 76th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA). 4-8 June, Cape Town, South Africa.

Larsson, Anders Olof (2026). Discussant for the Polish Communication Association partner panel Emotions, Trust, and Cultural Fragmentation: Rethinking Media and Politics in Transforming Democracies in Central and Eastern Europe and Beyond chaired by Damian Guzek. To be presented at the 76th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA). 4-8 June, Cape Town, South Africa.

Mentor during Political Communication Research Escalator session held at the 76th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA). 4-8 June, Cape Town, South Africa.

… and this year I was fortunate enough to be part of the following presentations for the 75th annual ICA conference, to be held in Denver in June:

Bene, Márton; Casero-Ripollés, Andreu; Vicente Fenoll; Gërguri, Dren; Haßler, Jörg; Jackson, Dan; Kruschinski, Simon; Larsson, Anders Olof; Lilleker, Darren; Machado, Sara; Macková, Alena; Novotná, Martina and Wall, Matthew (2025). Calls to action – Engaging voters across 8 countries. Abstract accepted as part of the Digital Election Campaigning Worldwide: Campaigning on Facebook in National Elections Around the World panel to be held at the 75th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, Denver, CO, 12-16 June.

El Mghari, Souad and Larsson, Anders Olof (2025). Platform and Gender Influences on Identity Expression: Health Opinion Leaders on Instagram and TikTok. Abstract accepted for the 75th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, Denver, CO, 12-16 June.

Larsson, Anders Olof; Alonso-Muñoz, Laura; Bene, Márton; Boulianne, Shelley; Fenoll, Vicente; Haßler, Jörg; Lilleker, Darren; Machado, Sara; Macková, Alena; Peña-Vicuña, Percy; Rodríguez-Sánchez, Adriana (2025). Populism across two continents – Assessing the use and reception of populist communication on Facebook in 10 countries. Abstract accepted as part of the Digital Election Campaigning Worldwide: Campaigning on Facebook in National Elections Around the World panel to be held at the 75th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, Denver, CO, 12-16 June.

Svensson, Jakob and Larsson, Anders Olof (2025). “I have seen it, have you seen me?” The logic of Engagement on Ugandan LGBT+ Organizations Digital Platforms. Full paper accepted for the 75th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, Denver, CO, 12-16 June.

The biannual ECREA conference will take place in Ljubljana this year. The results from the peer review process just came out, and this year I have the pleasure of being involved in two presentations:

Buyens, Willem and Larsson, Anders Olof (2024). Links in the chain: Political parties’ online link sharing during campaign times in Belgium and Sweden. Abstract accepted for the 2024 ECREA conference. Ljubljana, Slovenia, 24-27 September.

Kalsnes, Bente and Larsson, Anders Olof (2024). “Anger is an Energy” – Anger, Love and the sharing of political posts on Facebook in Scandinavian elections. Abstract accepted for the 2024 ECREA conference. Ljubljana, Slovenia, 24-27 September.

… Also, there are two more presentations that I am involved in that are placed on a “waiting list” – given the apparent interest in attending the 2024 ECREA conference, my guess is those waitlisted papers will remain waitlisted. Oh well, win some, lose some.