Kristof Jacobs is Assistant Professor of Comparative Politics at Radboud University, Netherlands. His research focuses on elections, technological innovations, political parties and democracy. He has published on these topics in international journals such as Electoral Studies and Political Behavior.Niels Spierings is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Radboud University, Netherlands. Previously he held appointments at the London School of Economics and the University of Essex, UK. His specializations include social media, political participation, populism, gender equality, Islam, and migration. He has published in various international journals.

• PART I: BACKGROUND1. Introduction2. Theorizing Social Media, Parties and Political Inequalities3. Social Media in Politics: The Netherlands from a Comparative PerspectivePART II: CHANGES IN THE POWER BALANCE4. Inter-Party Relations: David versus Goliath 5. Intra-Party Politics: David versus Nabal and Abigail6. Social Media go Glocal: The Local and European ArenasPART III: THE TRANSFORMATIVE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA7. The Electoral Impact of Social Media8. Conclusion

'Jacobs and Spierings are the first ones to provide a comprehensive account of the role social media play in politics. With their multi-method, comparative approach they debunk the common wisdom of massive social media effects, but also show in a nuanced way when and how these media actually matter. The book is a must-read for everyone wanting to understand how politics has changed due to the rise of new media.' - Rens Vliegenthart, Professor of Communication Science and Chair in Media and Society, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands 'This book makes an important contribution to the literature on the internet and politics. In looking comparatively at elites' use of Twitter and Facebook it extends our understanding of how far social media are affecting political practice in campaigns and elections worldwide. The authors update the standard normalization-equalization debate that has characterized the study of this topic by presenting a more nuanced understanding of party competition online.' - Rachel Gibson, Professor of Politics, University of Manchester, UK