Political Communication Special Issue Introduction: Multi-Platform Research

In this introduction to the Multi-Platform Research Special Issue, we continue a field-wide discussion regarding how political communication scholars conduct multi-platform research. Despite the continued challenges to develop both robust methods and longstanding theoretical frameworks, political communication research that accounts for multiple platforms has continued to grow. In addition to noting these challenges, we outline a framework to distinguish comparative studies, which focus on patterned similarities and differences across platforms, and systemic studies, which seek to understand how platform content, users, and affordances may be shaped by one another. Articles that are a part of this Special Issue demonstrate the theoretical, methodological, and empirical value of multi-platform research, taking into account a broad array of countries, cultural contexts, and political action to analyze political communication as it actually occurs: across multiple interlocking and rapidly-evolving digital platforms.