Ryan Davis, Co-Founder of People First, discusses how "micro-influencers" or "micro-creators" are being used in political campaigns. We discuss the benefits of using micro-influencers for engagement, as well as how they can be used to target specific blocks of voters. Ryan also shares how these creators can inform the political strategy of campaigns through panels and focus groups, and how the comments to creators' content can reveal themes and sentiments important for the campaign.  Here's a list of resources on micro-influencers written by Ryan and People First:  White paper on mi ..read more

Dr. Eviane Leidig, Marie Curie postdoctoral fellow at Tilburg University, discusses her book "The Women of the Far Right: Social Media Influencers and Online Radicalization."  We break down the role of social media for the alt-right movement, and how platforms like Instagram and YouTube work to mainstream extremist views. These insights come from Dr. Leidigs research conducting digital ethnography on women influencers prominent on the American Right.  ..read more

Prof. Kate Dommett, Professor of Digital Politics at the University of Sheffield, and Dr. Simon Kruschinski, Postdoctoral Researcher in Communication at the University of Mainz, discuss their new book: Data-Driven Campaigning and Political Parties. We discuss the book's theoretical framework on how system-level, regulatory-level, and party-level factors explain variation in data-driven campaigning across five democracies: the US, UK, Canada, Germany, and Australia.  Prof. Dommett and Dr. Kruschinski also break down their findings on how data, analytics, targeting, and personnel differ acr ..read more

Dr. Rob Eschmann, Associate Professor of Social Work at Columbia University, discusses his latest book When the Hood Comes Off: Racism and Resistance in the Digital Age (University of California Press).  We cover how social media works to unmask everyday experiences of racism, and how this affects student life at American universities. Dr. Eschmann also shares his research on social media, racial microaggressions, and Black Twitter; thoughts on TikTok and algorithmic bias; and how resisting racism requires engaging in conversation.    ..read more

Prof. Kate Dommett, Professor of Digital Politics at the University of Sheffield, and Dr. Simon Kruschinski, Postdoctoral Researcher in Communication at the University of Mainz, discuss their new book: Data-Driven Campaigning and Political Parties. We discuss the book's theoretical framework on how system-level, regulatory-level, and party-level factors explain variation in data-driven campaigning across five democracies: the US, UK, Canada, Germany, and Australia.  Prof. Dommett and Dr. Kruschinski also break down their findings on how data, analytics, targeting, and personnel differ acr ..read more

Dr. Andrew W. MacDonald, Assistant Professor of Social Science at Duke Kunshan University, shares research from his new book Directed Digital Dissidence in Autocracies: How China Wins Online.  We discuss the Chinese digital and social media context, citizens' perceptions of online propaganda, and how the state manipulates digital information to further its political interests. We also discuss survey methodology, how citizens circumvent the Great Firewall, and what affect using the internet and VPNs has on trust in the state.  ..read more

The 8th Annual Social Media and Politics Year in Review!  This year, we cover the platforms' year in review reports, AI for political communication, the creator economy, and EU concerns around disinformation and cyberattacks.  Here are links to resources discussed in the episode, and see you in 2024! Platform Reports: Meta Instagram TikTok Reddit Pinterest Snap Twitch Google YouTube Pornhub Insights Jimmie Åkesson's Arabic Deepfake   ..read more

Dr. Jennifer Forestal, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Loyola University Chicago, discusses how digital platforms can be approached from an architectural perspective. Dr. Forestal shares insights from her latest book, Designing for Democracy, where she evaluates digital platforms' democratic potential from the lens of political theory. The episode breaks down a framework for how to assess the democratic quality of social media platforms by examining their degrees of boundaries, durability, and flexibility. Dr. Forestal reveals how these properties can be illustrated by the cases of ..read more

Dr. Mia-Marie Hammarlin, Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication at Lund University, shares her research on vaccine hesitancy in Sweden. We discuss the major themes of coronavirus vaccine skepticism on the Swedish online forum Flashback, as well as Dr. Hammarlin's ethnographic research meeting with vaccine hesitant communities.  Here are links to Dr. Hammarlin's research mentioned in the episode: COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: A Mixed Methods Investigation of Matters of Life and Death (2023) I bonded with COVID vaccine sceptics over saunas and Mother Earth rituals (2023) And check out HT ..read more

Dr. Alexander Coppock, Associate Professor of Political Science at Yale University, shares his research on measuring the political effects of persuasive information. We discuss how political persuasion affects voters holding different viewpoints, the durability of these effects over time, and how much political ads seem to affect voters' political attitudes.  Here are Dr. Coppock's research studies discussed in the episode:  Persuasion in Parallel: How Information Changes Minds about Politics (2022) The small effects of political advertising are small regardless of context, message ..read more