Episodes

#123: Social Media Influencers and Political Campaigns, with Madeline V. Twomey

March 27, 2021 Digital Strategists

Madeline V. Twomey, President at Rufus and Mane, discusses how social media influencers can benefit political campaigns (and vice versa). Madeline forged digital influencer partnerships for Joe Biden’s presidential campaign and inauguration. She shares her experiences working with influencer programs and her thoughts on best practices moving forward.

 

We talk about the value that influencers can provide to campaigns, how that working relationship looks like in practice, and how storytelling can help non-political influencers break into political topics. 

 

Here’s Madeline’s Medium post discussing her 10 lessons from the Biden campaign.  

 

Check out the latest newsletter, if you’re curious about what’s coming next on the pod!

#122: Digital Politics in Canada: Parties, Memes, and the Courts, with Dr. Tamara Small

February 21, 2021 Academics

Dr. Tamara A. Small, Associate Professor in Political Science at the University of Guelph, discusses her research on social media and politics in Canada. We start out with her latest edited volume Digital Politics in Canada: Promises and Realities (2020, University of Toronto Press).


We then dive into Dr. Small’s research on Canadian party leaders’  use of Twitter, citizens’ sharing of memes about Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau, and how Canadian courts use social media. We also cover how journalists live-tweet about court cases, and the Canadian courts’ struggle to adapt during Covid-19.


Here’s the full list of studies discussed in the episode:


Digital Politics in Canada: Promises and Realities (2020)

What the Hashtag? A Content Analysis of Canadian Politics on Twitter (2011)

Online Negativity in Canada: Do Canadian Party Leaders Attack on Twitter? (2018)

Trolling Stephen Harper: Internet Memes as Online Activism (2019)

“Justin Trudeau – I Don’t Know Her”: An Analysis of Leadership Memes of Justin Trudeau (2020)

Tweet Justice: The Canadian Court’s Use of Social Media (2020)

Play-by-Play Justice: Tweeting Criminal Trials in the Digital Age (2020)

Trial by Zoom? The Response to COVID-19 by Canada’s Courts (2020)

#121: Information Theory, Algorithms, and Political Polarization, with Prof. Martin Hilbert

February 7, 2021 Academics

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:


Behavioral Experiments With Social Algorithms: An Information Theoretic Approach to Input-Output Conversions

Do Search Algorithms Endanger Democracy? An Experimental Investigation of Algorithm Effects on Political Polarization

Communicating with Algorithms: A Transfer Entropy Analysis of Emotions-based Escapes from Online Echo Chambers


Prof. Hilbert’s seven part Medium series on Social Media Distancing. 

#120: Digital Ads for Political Mobilization and Persuasion, with Nick Ahamed

January 24, 2021 Digital Strategists

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. 

#119: 2020 Year in Review! Social Media and Politics, with Dr. Anamaria Dutceac Segesten

December 20, 2020 Academics

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 Services Act and Digital Markets Act)
2:02:31 – Tweets from the Dead
2:17:00 – Platform Fragmentation


Here’s a list of each platform’s year in review reports:

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google, Reddit, Reddit UK, Reddit Moderators, Pornhub Debate Night


Other supplementary material:

Acronym’s ‘Haha Ratio’

Priorities USA’s “Wreck” Ad

Digital Services Act

Margarethe Vestager on the Digital Services Act

Study Modelling Dead Social Media Accounts

Tufts Research on Youth and Political Engagement

Pew Research on Social Media and Persuasion

#118: Audience Development, Online Political Journalism, and Social Media, with Sofia Diogo Mateus

November 29, 2020 Digital Strategists

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, strategies around content moderation, and the value of reporting political news for international audiences. 

 

Click here to view the Social Media Producer job posting at Politico Europe. 

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#117: Incivility, Intolerance, and Misinformation Sharing on Social Media and News Websites, with Dr. Patricía Rossini

November 15, 2020 Academics

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: 

  1. Beyond Incivility: Understanding Patterns of Uncivil and Intolerant Discourse in Online Political Talk
  2. Dysfunctional Information Sharing on WhatsApp and Facebook: The Role of Political Talk, Cross-Cutting Exposure and Social Corrections

#116: Instagram for Political Campaigning, Agenda Setting, and the 2020 US Election, with Prof. Terri Towner

October 25, 2020 Academics

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 Image is the Message: Instagram Marketing and the 2016 Presidential Primary Season

Instagramming Issues: Agenda Setting During the 2016 Presidential Campaign

#115: Bad News, Social Media, and Digital Campaigning in Britain, with Dr. Mark Pack

October 4, 2020 Academics

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 elections. 

#114: The Hype Machine: Political Implications of the Social Media Industrial Complex, with Prof. Sinan Aral

September 19, 2020 Academics

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. We also discuss the science behind these concepts and they implications they have for elections, politics, and society.