new media & society 1–19 © The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1461444815586982 nms.sagepub.com The special case of Switzerland: Swiss politicians on Twitter Adrian Rauchfleisch and Julia Metag University of Zurich, Switzerland Abstract We analyse the use of Twitter in political communication in Switzerland because, in comparison with other democracies, Switzerland with its strong federalism, fragmented party system, small country size and semi-professional politicians can be seen as the least-likely critical case, thus creating unique conditions for the use of social media. The study investigates the individual characteristics of Swiss Members of Parliament that could influence social media usage. Thus, the study contributes to the debate about equalization and normalization with respect to Twitter as a relevant microblogging channel for political communication and to the significance of country-specific conditions for the adoption of innovations in political online communication. The study explains the shift from equalization towards normalization with the diffusion of innovations theory. Keywords Diffusion of innovations, equalization, microblogging, normalization, political communication, social media, Switzerland, Twitter ‘I managed to not be on Facebook; it’s my parliamentary assistant who reads my email messages, but Twitter seems to be inevitable!’ Translated first Tweet of 60-year old Robert Cramer from the Council of States in May 2014. Corresponding author: Adrian Rauchfleisch, IPMZ – Institute of Mass Communication and Media Research, University of Zurich, Andreasstrasse 15, CH-8050 Zürich, Switzerland. Email: a.rauchfleisch@ipmz.uzh.ch; adrian.rauchfleisch@gmail.com 586982NMS 0 0 10.1177/1461444815586982Rauchfleisch and Metagnew media & society research-article 2015 Article at WESTERN OREGON UNIVERSITY on June 2, 2015 nms.sagepub.com Downloaded from