From Friends to Foes? Negative Campaign Tactics on Facebook and Their Effects on User Engagement Across Three National Elections in Sweden (2014–2022)

ABSTRACT Research has documented an increase in the use of negative campaign strategies during election campaigns worldwide. This study contributes to the literature by offering a longitudinal analysis of how negative statements and moral scandalization strategies by Swedish political parties on Facebook have evolved over time, and whether they contribute to user engagement. Using a census sample ( N = 2,779) of posts published by all parties represented in parliament during the 4 weeks leading up to the elections in 2014, 2018, and 2022, we reveal that targets of negative campaign messages have shifted considerably alongside changing party loyalties. Sweden's increasingly polarized multi‐party system coincides with a general rise in the prominence of negative statements and scandalization, yet we find no clear‐cut indications that these strategies drive user engagement.