Social Media and Politics

Martin Hilbert , Professor of Communication at UC-Davis, discusses his research on algorithms and polarization. Prof. Hilbert introduces information theory and how it can be applied to studying the transfer of emotions via algorithms. We break down some of Prof. Hilbert's recent studies, as well as his current thinking around detaching from social algorithms. The studies discussed in the episode:...

Nick Ahamed , Director of Analytics at Priorities USA, shares his research on the effectiveness of digital ads for increasing voter turnout and support for Democrats. We discuss the field and survey experiments that Priorities USA has been running to find the optimal messaging strategies, targeting approaches, and treatment lengths for political social media ads during elections. 

Dr. Anamaria Dutceac Segesten joins for the 5th Annual Social Media and Politics Year in Review!  We answer listener questions and present six gifts, each representing big events that shaped social media and politics this year.  25:18 - Platform Year in Review Reports 53:08 - Platforms and Activism (Belarus and Thailand) 1:16:26 - Political Ad Effectiveness 1:38:00 - Platform Regulation (Digital S...

Sofia Diogo Mateus , Audience Development Editor at Politico Europe, discusses the role of social media in online political journalism. We talk about the importance of audience development, the tools used to assist in online publishing and measuring engagement, and the benefits and pitfalls of user generated content (UGC). We also discuss Sofia's work as Head of Facebook at Deutsche Welle, strateg...

Dr. Patricía Rossini, Derby Fellow in the Department of Communication and Media at the University of Liverpool, discusses her latest research on informal political talk online. We break down differences between incivility and intolerance in online discussions, as well as misinformation sharing across Facebook and WhatsApp.  The two studies we discuss in the episode are:  Beyond Incivility: Underst...

Dr. Terri Towner , Professor of Political Science at Oakland University, discusses her research on political campaigning and information on Instagram. We also give first impressions from the last presidential debate between Trump and Biden, and break down some poll results about citizens' social media use during the coronavirus pandemic.  Here are the two studies we discuss in the episode:  The Im...

Dr. Mark Pack , President of the Liberal Democrats, guests to discuss his new book: " Bad News: What the Headlines Don't Tell Us. " We talk about some of the flaws of election campaign coverage and how to be better consumers of news using social media. Dr. Pack also shares his insights on digital campaigning in Britain, where he ran digital operations for the LibDems in the 2001 and 2005 general e...

Sinan Aral , David Austin Professor of Management at MIT and Director of MIT's Initiative on the Digital Economy, discusses his new book "The Hype Machine: How Social Media Disrupts Our Elections, Our Economy, and Our Health—and How We Must Adapt." Prof. Aral breaks down key theoretical concepts from the book, which outlines some of the fundamental mechanisms for how social media platforms operate...

Dr. André Haller (University of Applied Sciences Kufstein Tyrol) and Simon Kruschinski (University of Mainz) share their research into data-driven political campaigning in Germany. We discuss the key political, legal, and cultural factors that influence German politicians digital campaigning, differences in organic posts versus paid advertisements, and how social media platforms have been used by...

Vanessa Molter , Graduate Research Assistant at the Stanford Internet Observatory, breaks down her new report: " Telling China's Story: The Chinese Communist Party's Campaign to Shape Global Narratives ."  We discuss what researchers currently know about China's influence operations on social media, how they compare with Russia's disinformation strategies, and dive into the report's three case stu...

Dr. Solomon Messing , Chief Scientist at ACRONYM and Affiliated Researcher at Georgetown University, shares his insights on data science across academia, the tech industry, and political campaigning space. We discuss how computational social science methods have changed over time, and how system architectures can be built to protect social media users' privacy. We also chat about current trends th...

Dr. Andreas Jungherr , Assistant Professor for Social Science Data Collection and Analysis at the University of Konstanz, guests to discuss his latest book, " Retooling Politics: How Digital Media are Shaping Democracy ."  We chat about the state of social media research in political science and political communication, and what we currently know about echo chambers, polarization, and election pre...

Ned Howey, CEO of Tectonica , discusses the international firm's approach to digital organizing for progressive campaigns. We focus on how Tectonica's digital solutions integrate with NationBuilder, some key principles of website design, and how to engage supporters with an authentic strategy and tone. 

James MacGregor, Managing Director at Bakamo Public , discusses the main narratives in social media conversations around Black Lives Matter in the UK, Turkey, and Hungary. We break down how key themes from the US protests are translated into these different national contexts, as well as how the online debate has evolved since the protests started. 

Dr. Brahim Zarouali , Assistant Professor in Persuasive Communication at the University of Amsterdam, discusses his research on social media political ads and their effectiveness on different personality types (introverts and extroverts). We break down the findings from two experiments, which try and replicate the psychometric targeting techniques of firms like Cambridge Analytica  by appealing to...

Maria and Ian are co-founders of Blue Wave Voiceover , a collective of professional voiceover actors lending their voices to Democratic campaigns. We discuss the role of voices in political ads, the back-end of reading political copy, and some of the differences between commercial and political voiceovers. We also demo the script reading process with real political ads, and change their tone to sh...

Dr. Leticia Bode , Associate Professor at Georgetown University, discusses her research on social media and health misinformation correction. We break down several experiments that test the effectiveness of digital misinformation correction in the context of the Zika virus. We also talk about what the findings might mean for public health organizations' social media strategy in times of crisis. To...

Stefan Smith , former Online Engagement Director at Pete for America, discusses the role of social media in digital organizing and campaigning during the 2020 Democratic Primaries. We break down two of Stefan's grassroots initiatives -- the Digital Captains program and Digital Door Knocking program -- and how they contributed to the overall campaign. We also talk about the political viability of P...

Dr. Ben Epstein, Associate Professor of Political Science at DePaul University, guests to discuss the role of history in understanding contemporary political communication. We take a deep dive in Dr. Epstein's book The Only Constant is Change: Technology, Political Communication, and Innovation over Time , published by Oxford University Press. Dr. Epstein explains how the development of newspapers...

Lord David Puttnam and Dr. Kate Dommett guest to discuss the work on the British House of Lords select committee " Democracy and Digital Technologies ." The committee seeks to investigate the pros and cons of digital technologies around six key areas: transparency in political campaigns; privacy and anonymity; misinformation; the effects of digital technology on public discourse; how technology ca...

Craig Stadler, Founder and CEO of Petey Vid , guests to discuss the video search engine landscape and his alternative to the dominance of Google and YouTube: Petey Vid. Petey Vid offers users video content from 60+ different sources while not tracking users’ search history or IP addresses. We break down Craig’s motivations behind starting Petey Vid, how it’s search architecture is structured, and...

Dr. Tarleton Gillespie, Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research and Associate Professor of Communication at Cornell University, guests for our 100th episode! We revisit Dr. Gillespie's 2010 study "The Politics of Platforms" as well as discuss his latest book: " Custodians of the Internet : Platforms, Content Moderation, and the Hidden Decisions that Shape Social Media." We discuss how social me...

Dr. Alexander Stewart , Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of Houston, guests to discuss his research on "information gerrymandering," recently published in Nature. The study uses a voter game, mathematical modelling, social media data, and legislative data to examine how information asymmetries in social networks impact collective decision-making processes. We break down the study,...

Stephen Clark , Director for Liaison Offices at the European Parliament, guests to discuss his role coordinating the Parliament's election campaign in the 2019 European Elections. We discuss the Parliament's social media strategy, its focus on mobilizing citizens through the "ground game," and the reaction to the Parliament's campaign video " Choose your Future ." Listen to Steve discuss the Parli...

The 2019 Year in Review! We break down the top trends and developments of this year and look forward to the decade ahead. We talk about the posts that garnered the most engagement on platforms like Twitter, Reddit, and Pornhub (no Facebook this year), look into the growing importance of TikTok, and chat about digital taxation, Epstein, and so much more. Tune in!