We all know how social media ads have the power to boost business and social campaigns. This goes true for anyone who wants to spread out a word regarding a review, much like the latest heatpress machine reviews (click here to read the full article). In the same manner, it has the power to boost political and electoral campaigns.
The time when the US election campaign was shaped by costly TV campaigns and candidate duels is not over, but it has now passed its zenith. Not only the candidates and their teams, but also the media have recognized that political music is playing online. There are a projected 317.1 million Internet users living in the USA in 2023. That corresponds to 94.25 percent of the expected total population. However, the shift towards the digital has been going on for longer than is generally assumed. Already since 2012data collected via social networks were used in the context of political campaigns. Then, six years later, the Cambridge Analytica scandal brought the massive impact of social media on the world.
Social Media Boosts US Presidential Election Campaigns
On the basis of the data collected by the British company Cambridge Analytica, micro-target groups could be formed, which were addressed with tailor-made messages. Information obtained from such data sets can be a place of residence, gender, income, religious affiliation, consumption preferences, and more. They help – as in the current election campaign, for example – to steer users and their opinions in the desired direction by displaying targeted negative content. The knowledge gained was also used in the analog election campaign. Trump’s election campaign workers are said to have been sent to catch votes in 2016 with 32 interview guides. Each guide was geared towards a different personality.
Based on these developments and social perception, some companies, including Twitter, have now decided to no longer allow political advertising content. These efforts will remain a flash in the pan, however, as long as the largest social media group Facebook struggles with the effective regulation of political ads.
Mark Zuckerberg recently commented on the upcoming election and the role of Facebook: “This election will not be business as usual. We all have a responsibility to protect our democracy. ” On the other hand, only campaign-related ads that were run during the week leading up to the election were blocked.
This means that both camps only had to plan and publish their campaigns at a good time because advertisements that have already been placed can still be published. This only makes it a little more difficult for the opponents to spread premature messages. However, there is no real consequence of the developments in recent years.
Anyone wondering why Facebook, despite all the difficulties in this context in recent years, is still struggling with a ban or at least the clear regulation of political content of sometimes questionable quality, must understand the foundation on which such corporations are built are.
Gilad Edelman describes digital advertising very appropriately as the financial model underlying the free internet. With this insight, which at first glance is quite simple, he provides the answer to all the hesitation and writhing in the face of restrictions on political advertising: Some companies simply do not seem to want to afford to forego the income that can be generated in this way.