Abstract
In the first part of the chapter, I discuss the role of digital media in crisis communication and identify the conditions under which social media can spearhead a shift in public communication dynamics. In the second part of the chapter, I combine data from different sources to map how the process of crisis accountability has been unfolding in the case of the Eurocrisis. My empirical analysis subsequently takes a qualitative turn, as I profile the Euro/Greek crisis Twitter-sphere for the period of February-July 2015. The focus is particularly on the Twitter exchanges concerning the Greek referendum (Greferendum) that took place in July 2015. Which contributors have the highest visibility and what type of content do they produce? Which sources are favoured in retweets? On which aspects of the Eurocrisis/Greferendum did the Twitter-sphere focus? The findings are discussed in the third and final part of the article, where I revisit the concepts of influence, echoing and refraction in the social media sphere and consider their impact on the EU public sphere’s capacity to nurture democratic crisis discourse.
This is an accepted version of a chapter published in Social Media and European Politics, Mauro Barisione and Asimina Michailidou (ed.). © 2017 Palgrave Macmillan