Social Media And Politics

Host Michael Bossetta and Dr. Anamaria Dutceac Segesten discuss parties and citizens used social media to campaign in the 2017 UK General Elections, where Theresa May's gamble to call a snap election backfired on her Conservative Party. We break down the election results and their implications for Brexit. We also look at how Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat were used by the major parties and their supporters during the campaign.

The Social Media and Politics Podcast is a podcast bringing you innovative, first-hand insights into how social media is changing the political game. Subscribe for interviews and analysis with politicians, academics, and leading industry experts to get their take on how social media influences the ways we engage with politics and democracy. Connect with us on Twitter @SMandPPodcast & Facebook: Social Media and Politics Podcast This episode has been featured in the Financial Times. Matthew Oczkowski, Head of Product at Cambridge Analytica, joins the show to discuss his experience heading digital strategy for the Scott Walker primary campaign and Donald Trump general election. We discuss how the candidates used Snapchat and other social media, the differences between primary and general election campaigning in terms of digital strategy and marketing, and we also discuss how microtargeting works in practice. You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattOczkowski. The following shownotes are taken from a blog post a

Eric Wilson, Digital Director for the Marco Rubio for President campaign, guests on the podcast to discuss how the Rubio campaign used social media in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. We focus on Snapchat and discuss how the platform was used to reach voters, how the campaign crafted Snapchat stories, and where Snapchat fit into the campaign's overall social media strategy. Eric also discusses how Snapchat was used to promote a 'Vote Early Day' initiative that set off media coverage and tweets from Donald Trump on Twitter, as well as how a Snapchat lens was used in the Australia federal elections the same year. You can follow Eric on Twitter, @EricWilson, and check out his weekly newsletter: www.learntestoptomize.com.

Dr. Alan Rosenblatt, Director for Digital Research at Lake Research Partners and Senior Vice President of Digital Strategy at Turner4D, shares his insights into how politicians have historically used the internet to campaign, going back to the first campaign website. We discuss how social media influences campaigns and advocacy, the current state of opinion polling, and the 2016 U.S. elections between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Dr. Antoine Bevort, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at le Cnam, gives his take on what a Marine Le Pen or Emmanuel Macron victory in the French elections would mean for France. We discuss Dr. Bevort's research into how social media can be a predictor for public opinion, and we also touch upon how bots and fake accounts fit into the sociology theory of social capital. You can find out more about Dr. Bevort and his research at www.antoinebevort.blogspot.com

Daniel Fazekas, founder of Bakamo Social, discusses the findings of his recent research into the French social media landscape leading up to the 2017 French presidential election. We discuss what types of news sources French citizens are sharing, Russian influence on the elections through social media, and the polarization of news consumption patterns among the public. You can download a copy of the study, 'French Election Social Media Landscape', by visiting www.bakamosocial.com You can also follow Daniel on Twitter @fazekasdani

Matthias Luefkens, Managing Director of Digital Strategy for EMEA countries at Burson-Marsteller, comes on the podcast to discuss his 'World Leaders on Instagram 2017' Twiplomacy study, which examines the ways governments and heads of state are using Instagram. We discuss some of the findings of the study, including who has the most followers and drives the most engagement, and we also chat about how politicians and institutions are using the Instagram Live Stories feature in the early stage of adoption. Matthias places world leaders' use of Instagram in context by also sharing insights from his research on other social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, Periscope, and Vine. You can find all these studies at www.Twiplomacy.com

Paul Hurley, digital marketing expert and founder of Frictionless Social, guests this week to discuss how Dark Social networks may be influencing politics. Paul discusses how platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, WeChat, and others can be used by politicians and political campaigns, and we talk about how these networks may have effected the outcome of Brexit and the election of Donald Trump. Paul highlights how communication in Dark Social networks tends to be more honest, among close friends or those with a shared interest, and may build strong communities of users that can mobilize politically.

Yomi Kazeem, a Lagos-based writer of politics, entrepreneurship, and sports business, joins the podcast to share his insights on social media's impact on politics in Nigeria. We discuss the role of social media in the latest 2015 Nigerian elections, and how Twitter was used by citizens to guard against government manipulation of the vote. Yomi also brings up the topic of dual sim cards, elaborates on NIgeria's data infrastructure, and explains how political leaders have a love/hate relationship with social media. You can follow Yomi on Twitter and Instagram @TheYomiKazeem.

Preston Picus, an educator and coach who challenged Nancy Pelosi in California’s 12th Congressional District, guests to discuss the role that social media played in his running his grassroots, progressive campaign. Mr. Picus highlights some of the disadvantages facing an average citizen running for office against an established politician, shares his experiences using Facebook for digital advertising, and gives his take on why Twitter is less effective than Facebook for campaigning. We also discuss how the Bernie Sanders had similar struggles against the establishment favorite, Hillary Clinton, in obtaining the Democratic nomination for the 2016 U.S. Presidential Elections. You can follow Preston's still active campaign site on Facebook at Preston Picus for Congress.

Dr. Anamaria Dutceac Segesten guest hosts this episode and speaks with Mugur, an activist involved with running the Facebook page 'Corruption Kills', which helped carry out the largest protest in Romania since the fall of the Soviet Union. Dr. Segesten and Mugur discuss the role of social media in mobilizing and coordinating the protests, which were in response to an ordinance aimed at limiting the penalties for corruption by government officials. They discuss how the Facebook page was used as a medium for broadcasting fact-checked information to counter fake news, as well as a communication platform where citizens could coordinate activities in support of the protests.

Dr. Kristof Jacobs, Assistant Professor at Radboud University, joins the podcast ahead of the upcoming Dutch national elections to share his research on how political parties and strategists in the Netherlands use social media to campaign. We discuss the major role that Twitter plays in Dutch politics but also how parties are adopting newer social media platforms, like Instagram and Snapchat. We also talk about the difference between individual politicians’ social media use versus party communication more broadly. Dr. Jacobs outlines the major themes of this election, the Dutch attitudes towards fake news, Geert Wilder’s social media use, and the media’s coverage of the campaign. You can follow Kristof on Twitter @KristofJacobs1, and read more about his research in the book "Social Media, Parties, and Politics Inequalities."

Emma Randecker from the Swedish Institute discusses how the organization responded to Donald Trump's 'Last Night in Sweden' comment, which sparked a media frenzy on both traditional and social media. Emma outlines how SI launched a fact checking campaign on Facebook and tried to clear up some misconceptions about immigration and refugees in Sweden. We also discuss the Curators of Sweden project, which gives selected Swedes control of the @Sweden Twitter account for one week, and how the Curator in charge of the account reacted to Trump's comments. Emma also shares her insights about how SI uses social media for digital marketing and how they conceptualize branding a nation. You can check out the Swedish Institute's webpage at www.sweden.se, and follow them on twitter @Swedense.

Matt Gielen, founder of Little Monster Media Co and former Director of Audience Development at Frederator, joins the podcast to share is research and insights about how the YouTube algorithm works. Matt explains some of the factors that YouTube's algorithm takes into account when suggesting content to users, and we discuss the implications this filtering might have on public opinion and political campaigning during elections. Other topics touched upon are YouTube monetization, digital advertising, the importance of being authentic on YouTube to build an audience, and the future of live video streaming on social media like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Dr. Heath Brown, Assistant Professor of Public Policy at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the City University of New York Graduate Center, joins the show to share his research on the political activity of nonprofit organizations serving immigrants and their communities. We discuss how these immigrant serving NGO's use - or shy away from - political action and the role that social media plays in their communication strategy. Dr. Brown highlights that the low resources of these NGO's, the diversity of their communities, and perceptions of authenticity as key factors motivating their social media adoption and strategy. You can read more about Dr. Brown's research on this topic in his new book, Immigrants and Electoral Politics: Nonprofit Organizing in a Time of Demographic Change.

This episode is all about bots on social media with guest Samuel Woolley, Director of Research of the Computational Propaganda Project at the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford. We discuss exactly how users make bots, and the ways they are deployed on Facebook and Twitter to influence politics through, for example, spreading fake news or disrupting protests. Sam explains how bots are difficult to trace, since they are often geotagged in misleading locations or used for digital marketing. We also talk about bots in the latest 2016 US Presidential campaign between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, as well look forward a bit into how bots might evolve in the future. You can follow Sam on Twitter @Samuelwoolley, and check out the Computational Propaganda Project at www.politicalbots.org. Don't forget to subscribe on iTunes to the Social Media and Politics Podcast at: https://t.co/7Sdk88P86U Tweet us on Twitter: @SMandPPodcast Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/socialmediaandpoliticspodcast

Dr. Luigi Curini, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Milan, discusses how big data from social networks can be used to estimate public opinion about ISIS and terrorism. Dr. Curini shares his research using Twitter data to uncover how the Arabic community discusses the Islamic State on social media. He and his colleagues find that closing down Twitter accounts of ISIS supporters may lead to them becoming foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq, and that Islam is a major factor in generating both positive and negative sentiment about ISIS. We also discuss Dr. Curini's upcoming book, Politics and Big Data: Nowcasting and Forecasting Elections with Social Media, which looks at how social media data can be used by researchers to more accurately predict election outcomes than traditional polling methods.

Dr. Anamaria Dutceac Segesten, Assistant Professor of European Studies at Lund University, and host Michael Bossetta discuss some of the hottest topics and controversies surrounding social media and politics from 2016. This year in review, Christmas episode tackles some of the key challenges facing policy makers and contemporary societies, from the explosion of political bots on Twitter to the spreading of fake news on Facebook. The two discuss how Snapchat was used as a digital marketing tool during the 2016 United States Presidential election, as well as what Donald Trump’s Twitter use might mean for future diplomacy. Other topics include the impact of live video streaming on social media for protest movements like Black Lives Matter and whether new social media platforms can compete alongside traditional giants like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You can follow Dr. Segesten on Twitter @anamariadutceac and check out her latest publication, "A Typology of Political Participation Online: How Citizens

Emilie Demant, social media coordinator for Venstres Ungdom, shares her insights into how a Danish political youth organization is using social media to engage young voters with politics. We discuss how Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter are each used differently to communicate politics with young Danes, as well as what types of user-generated content Emilie receives when managing these social media accounts. Emilie highlights the visual element of social media by stressing that memes, GIFs, and videos drive the most engagement on social media, and here digital marketing and graphic design play a key role. We also discuss the differences between a youth political organization and the parent political party, Venstre, and what that means for their social media use. Although exhibiting different rules of political communication on social media (especially on Snapchat), interestingly, both Venstre and Venstres Ungdom work together to strategically share content across their Facebook, Instagram, and Twitte

Chasen Campbell, VP of Client Strategy at Harris Media, shares his knowledge about how major US politicians use social media for digital campaigning. We discuss how political campaigns use big data to micro-target voters on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, as well as what it's like to run a digital marketing campaign for politicians with big budgets. Chasen also weighs in on how new social media platforms, like Snapchat and Periscope, stack up to giants like Facebook and Google. We also discuss what works and what doesn't in driving engagement online, and Chasen emphasizes that short, easy to understand, and entertaining messages are key to capturing voters' attention. Find out more about Chasen and Harris Media at www.harrismediallc.com