Information Greater than Mobilisation Greater than Interaction: Contours of a Pan-European Style of Social Media Campaigning

European Parliament (EP) elections are generally regarded as second-order elections because they receive less attention from political actors, the media and voters than national elections receive. Moreover, political actors typically allocate fewer resources for these elections. This subordinate status also applies to EP elections in the context of political communication research: election campaigns are one of the main research topics in this field, but the focus is on national election campaigns, while campaigns at other political levels are somewhat neglected. Hence, although multiple studies have focused on EP election campaigns, these elections still play a subordinate role in political communication research. This reflects a missed opportunity, as EP elections offer almost optimal conditions for comparative studies that can provide information about how structural frameworks influence election campaign communications. Although comparative studies have gained importance in political communication research in recent years, much work of this type remains to be done.