Episodes

#78: Advertising and Fundraising for Political Campaigns, with Brian Lyle

April 29, 2019 Digital Strategists

Brian Lyle, Vice President of Digital Strategy at On Message, Inc., and AAPC 2019 Digital Strategist of the Year, guests to discuss his award-winning work during the 2018 US Midterms.

We discuss On Message’s approach to political campaigning – advertising, organic growth, and fundraising – and the role of digital media in each. We also break down differences in campaigning between challengers and incumbents, discover what makes a good campaign website, and talk about new forms of advertising like OTT and P2P texting.

#77: Ukraine Presidential Elections and Social Media Campaigning, with Mikhail Fedorov

April 13, 2019 Digital Strategists

Mikhail Fedorov, Chief Digital Strategist for Vladimir Zelensky, joins the podcast to discuss digital campaigning ahead of the 2019 Ukrainian Presidential Elections. We discuss how Zelensky, the election’s frontrunner, is using tools like Facebook, YouTube, and Telegram to grow a support base and coordinate volunteers’ canvassing efforts. We also talk about bots, trolls, and fake news in Ukraine ahead of the election, and how the Zelensky campaign is working to avoid information pollution on their online channels.

Be sure to check out the podcast’s Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube channels!

#76: Crypto Social Networks, with Bill Ottman

April 7, 2019 Civil Society

Bill Ottman, Founder and CEO of Minds, discusses how decentralized social media platforms may be the response to privacy concerns surrounding big platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. We talk about Minds’ peer-to-peer cryptocurrency model, how blockchain technology is used on the platform, and online censorship.

#75: Human Rights, Social Media, and Myanmar, with Ray Serrato

March 25, 2019 Civil Society

Ray Serrato, Social Media Analyst at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, discusses how social media data is used in the context of human rights violations. Ray breaks down the attacks against the Rohingya minority in Myanmar, and we discuss the role of social media in these attacks. Lastly, we talk about what the closing down of social media APIs means for future human rights work.

#74: Political Campaigning with Chatbots, Streaming Devices, and Social Media, with Adam Meldrum

March 10, 2019 Digital Strategists

Adam Meldrum, Founding and Managing Partner at Ad Victory, guests to discuss the cutting-edge trends in American digital campaigning. We look at some best practices and innovations from the 2018 Midterm Elections around ad buys, booking inventory, OTT campaigns, and Facebook Messenger chatbots. And of course, how social media fits into the modern political campaign apparatus.

#73: Far-Right Extremism, Media Manipulation, and Disinformation Online, with Dr. Alice Marwick

February 24, 2019 Academics

Dr. Alice Marwick, Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, guests to discuss the findings of her research report: Media Manipulation and Disinformation Online. Dr. Marwick breaks down how far-right groups use the internet and social media to promote their ideologies. We also talk about radicalization, conspiracy theories, and differences in online activity between the far-right and far-left.


Check out the report here!

#72: Digital Political Campaigning in Britain, with Dr. Rachel Gibson

February 10, 2019 Academics

Dr. Rachel Gibson, Professor of Politics at the University of Manchester, discusses British political parties’ digital campaigning from websites to social media. We take a longitudinal dive into the development of digital campaigning in the UK, and compare it to campaigning practices in the US. Then, we examine how citizens’ political participation is evolving through their use of digital communication technologies.

#71: Russian Disinformation and Social Media in Ukraine, with Kateryna Kruk

January 31, 2019 Civil Society

Kateryna Kruk, Analyst at StopFake and Special Fellow at the European Values Think-Tank, discusses the development and strategies of Russian disinformation in Ukraine. Kateryna shares her experiences using Twitter to promote awareness about the Euromaidan protests, and we dig deeper into the role social media played in the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution. We then discuss how Russian used digital media to spread disinformation around the annexation of Crimea and armed conflict in Donbass. Finally, Kateryna shares her insights into how to use social media for government communication, based on her work with the Ukrainian Parliament. Other topics include deep fakes and disinformation ahead of the 2019 Ukrainian Presidential elections.

#70: News Finds Me Perception and Social Media, with Dr. Homero Gil de Zúñiga

January 25, 2019 Academics

 

Dr. Homero Gil de Zúñiga, Professor at the Department of Communication at the University of Vienna, guests to discuss the “News Finds Me Perception” and the role of social media in it. Citizens who believe that the news will simply find them are heavy users of social media, and Dr. Gil de Zúñiga’s research shows that this negatively impacts political interest and political knowledge. In the episode, we parse out the effects and implications of News Finds Me for democracy.

#69: Protests and Demonstrations in Northern Ireland, with Dr. Paul Reilly

January 13, 2019 Academics

Dr. Paul Reilly, Senior Lecturer in Social Media and Digital Society at the University of Sheffield, shares his research on the role of social media in protests in Northern Ireland. We first discuss the “Irish Border Question” in relation to Brexit, and then hone in on two demonstrations in Northern Ireland: the union flag protests in 2013 and the Ardoyne parade dispute in 2014. The discussion highlights how much of the contemporary debates around Facebook and Twitter (e.g., disinformation, propaganda, and user privacy) have roots much earlier than the 2016 US election.

The two articles covered in the episode are:

  1. Researching protest on Facebook: developing an ethical stance for the study of Northern Irish flag protest pages
  2. Tweeting for peace? Twitter and the Ardoyne parade dispute in Belfast, July 2014