An Effort Made for Whom? Exploring Ministers’ Public Approval and Name Recognition in Relation to Their Media Activity

In many democracies, cabinet ministers find themselves in a difficult situation, juggling a demanding administrative job with political responsibilities and the need to communicate and campaign to secure reelection. With the rise of social media, this balance is becoming increasingly unstable. However, the tangible benefits of media visibility outside election campaigns remain unclear, making it difficult to determine whether such efforts yield meaningful political returns. This study examines and compares whether Danish ministers’ media activities—both in traditional and social media—impact their name recognition and popularity in the Danish population. We utilize thirty-two nationally representative opinion polls conducted between March 2020 and May 2024 and merge these with extensive records of all Danish ministers’ Facebook activity and appearances in traditional media outlets throughout the same period. Overall, our findings show that ministers’ activity in traditional media is associated with only minor gains in name recognition, while social media activity has either zero or minimal gains in popularity. Moreover, breaking down these correlations across different types of Facebook interactions and traditional media outlets suggests a trade-off between reaching and being perceived favorably by voters, showing the multifaceted nature of (social) media activity. Consequently, while we do not rule out any significant effects of social media on voters’ perceptions, we argue that social media activity is no panacea for politicians to improve their public popularity and name recognition.