Webinar in March 2025

How to Convey Trustworthiness via Social Media: Content Analysis and Citizen Testing of British MPs’ Facebook Posts (March 12, 2025)

The low and declining level of political trust in the UK is well documented but less is known about how citizens form trust judgements and how politicians can influence perceptions of trustworthiness through social media. This article addresses these important questions using a novel combination of content analysis and survey research, operationalising academic theory on political trust within the context of Facebook communication through a new lens. The findings offer a unique insight into how trustworthiness is conveyed on social media and the types of content that display competence, integrity and authenticity. UK citizens’ perceptions of MP communication are tested in an original survey using embedded Facebook content, allowing key features of high- and low-trust posts to be identified [Read full paper text].

Helen A. Bramah is a PhD candidate in the Department of Politics, Languages & International Studies at the University of Bath. Her research focuses on online information and political trust, with a particular interest in how citizens make judgements on trustworthiness. She brings two decades of experience in local government where she dealt with politicians, media and residents first-hand in her career as a communications specialist.