Episodes

#43: Mobile Apps for Political Campaigns and Advocacy, with Thomas Peters

March 25, 2018 Digital Strategists

Thomas Peters, founder and CEO of uCampaign, discusses how mobile apps can be powerful tools to drive engagement for political campaigns and advocacy groups. uCampaign has developed apps for Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, and the Brexit Leave campaign, and Thomas shares his insights into why smartphones are key channels for contemporary civic engagement. We discuss how the app integrates with Facebook, Twitter, and Google, what types of data are collected, and how gamification is used to encourage activism.

#42: WhatsApp-ening in the Netherlands? Social media, GroenLinks, and the 2018 Dutch Local Elections, with Hanneke Bruinsma

March 11, 2018 Politicians

Hanneke Bruinsma, local politician for the green party GroenLinks in the Netherlands, joins the show to discuss how her party is using social media in the upcoming Dutch municipal elections. We discuss how GroenLinks party members in the Overbetuwe municipality are using Facebook and Twitter to campaign, and in particular we focus on WhatsApp as a new medium to encourage activism – or “Apptivism” – among local residents.

#41: Political Campaigning Games: Corbyn Run and the 2017 British Elections, with James Moulding

January 1, 2018 Digital Strategists

James Moulding, co-founder of Games for the Many, joins the podcast to discuss the success of Corbyn Run, a political campaigning game that went viral during the 2017 British elections. We discuss the development of the game, the role of social media in promoting it, and the potential for online games to spur political engagement in youth.

You can play Corbyn Run here.

#40: 2017 Year in Review: Social Media and Politics, with Dr. Anamaria Dutceac Segesten

December 17, 2017 Academics

Dr. Anamaria Dutceac Segesten, Assistant Professor in European Studies and Lund University, returns to the podcast to recap the biggest trends in social media and politics from 2017. We discuss social media’s transnationalization potential, the most shared content this year on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, as well as phishing cyberattacks and chatbots.

Here are the year in review reports from Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

#39: Data, Democracy, and the Role of Technology in Politics, with Dr. Daniel Kreiss

November 26, 2017 Academics

Dr. Daniel Kreiss, Associate Professor at the School of Media and Journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, joins the podcast to discuss the role of data, social media, and technology in contemporary electoral campaigning. We discuss Dr. Kreiss’ recent book, Prototype Politics, and dig into how Republicans and Democrats have built up their data infrastructures over time. We talk about the relationships between campaigns and representatives at tech firms like Facebook, Google, and Twitter, Russian intervention in US democracy, and whether regulation from governments is needed in this space moving forward.

#38: Algorithms, Social Media, and Society, with Dr. Thore Husfeldt

November 12, 2017 Academics

Dr. Thore Husfeldt, Associate Professor in computer science at IT University of Copenhagen and Professor in computer science and Lund University, is an algorithms theorist who joins the show to discuss the implications of algorithms for politics and society. We discuss how the algorithms of Facebook and Google have developed over time, how machine learning works, the upcoming European General Data Protection Regulation, and what all this means for democracy, politics, and society.

Check out the CAST IT podcast, hosted by Dr. Husfeldt.

Dr. Husfeldt’s talk on algorithms mentioned in the episode.

 

#37: The Dark Web: Social Networks on Tor, with Ciphas

October 29, 2017 Civil Society

Ciphas, an anonymous web blogger who writes about the dark web, joins the podcast to discuss what types of social networks are on the dark web. We discuss what type of social media are on the Tor browser, as well as why they might not be as popular as social networks on the clearnet. We also share experiences about being on the dark web, as well as where political discussions might be taking place.

You can check out Ciphas blog as well as his reviews on various dark web services.

#36: Cloaked Facebook Pages, Hate Profiles, and Propaganda, with Johan Farkas

October 15, 2017 Academics

Johan Farkas, Lecturer and Researcher at the IT University of Copenhagen, joins the show to discuss his research on “cloaked Facebook pages” that spread propaganda through false identities. We talk about how cloaked Facebook pages have been used in Denmark to spread hate speech about Muslims, how a Facebook group of activists formed to combat these accounts by reporting them to Facebook, and what Facebook’s response to the reports actually was. We also get into fake news and post-truth democracy in the age of social media, and why these terms might not best describe the current media environment.

#35: Character Assassination, Reputation Politics, and Social Media in Russia, with Sergei Samoilenko

September 18, 2017 Academics

Sergei Samoilenko, co-founder of the Character Assassination and Reputation Politics (CARP) Research Lab at George Mason University, shares his insights on how social media is used as a tool for defamation and crisis communication. We also discuss the state of the internet and social media in Russia, bots and trolls, and the Ukranian crisis.

Check out their report: Character Assassination in Theory and Practice.

Don’t miss Tom Moylan’s review of the podcast, and please take 5 minutes for the audience survey!

#34: Participation, Social Media, and the Cyprus conflict, with Dr. Nico Carpentier

August 20, 2017 Academics

Dr. Nico Carpentier, Professor at the Department of Informatics and Media at Uppsala University, guests on the podcast this week to discuss media, participation, and conflict in Cyprus. We discuss deliberative versus participatory democracy, as well as Dr. Carpentier’s new book, “The Discursive-Material Knot: Cyprus in Conflict and Community Media Participation”.

Please take 5 minutes to take the Audience Survey!

And while you’re at it, check out our episode on Podcast of the Day!