- Democrats dropping $21 million on Senate digital ads largely targeting health care. C.f. Democrats unveil all-digital ad play for November.
- Dems ramp up digital advertising effort for midterms. Trump’s doing the same for 2020. But, Despite An Uptick In Digital Spend, Top Senate Races Still Dominated By TV, as Democrats Won’t Stop, Can’t Stop, Spending Big Bucks on Television Ads.
- Hugs, flags, tears, kids: Inside the heart-tugging world of today’s super-viral campaign ads.
- Warning: NYT “trends” piece. Viral Videos Are Replacing Pricey Political Ads. They’re Cheaper, and They Work. Note: except when they don’t.
- Cynthia Nixon’s digital director talks strategy.
- Jack Dorsey Gave an Honest Interview About Conservatives at Twitter. Will It Backfire on Him?
- Facebook and Twitter testified before Congress. Conservative conspiracy theorists lurked behind them.
- The End Finally Comes for Alex Jones. “Twitter’s permanent ban is an important symbolic gesture.” C.f. Alex Jones and Marco Rubio Explain the Internet.
- Campaigns Grapple With How To Counter Trolling And Threats.
- Fake news is about to get so much more dangerous. C.f. Fighting WhatsApp disinformation in India: “How do you make people aware that you should not believe what you see?â€.
- A partisan war over fact-checking is putting pressure on Facebook.
- Justice Department probes whether social media is ‘stifling’ speech.
- Facebook Expands Effort To Expose Fake Video. C.f. Facebook’s Crackdown on Misinformation Might Actually Be Working.
- Conservatives have embraced the idea that nothing is nonpartisan, including tech.
- Tennessee Republican Party revealed as group behind mysterious Google ads targeting Phil Bredesen.
- Internet Sleuths Are Hunting for China’s Secret Internment Camps for Muslims.
- A Pop Star, a Protest, and a Likely Case of Torture in Uganda. Note the use of a social media tax to discourage dissent.
- Brett Kavanaugh — and Susan Collins — better watch these seeds of a [crowdfunded] grass-roots revolt.
- The Threat to Democracy Isn’t Coming From Its People.
- Samantha Bee Is Trying to Save Democracy With an App.
- How Can AI Help to Prepare for Floods in a Climate-Changed World? C.f. The Weather Channel Uses Video Game Simulation to Convey the Severity of the Hurricane Threat.
- Massachusetts Police Tweeted a Screenshot—and Accidentally Revealed They’re Watching Left-Wing Activist Groups.
- Tucker Carlson says he didn’t know about a racist at the Daily Caller. Again.
- Consultants sue nonpartisan group No Labels.
- Big data: Political groups aim to win by homing in on small details.
- Can Exposure To Opposing Views On Social Media Shape Your Politics?
- 5 Tips for the Perfect Online Donation Form.
- 3 Ways To Strengthen Your Email Program In 2018.
- Cord Cutters and the Future of the Media Business.
- Are Your Digital Ads Persuading?
- Google is making it easier to discover datasets. Helpful for policy analysis?
- The Secret Metric Killing Nonprofit Fundraising. Hint: deliverability.
- Writing and Testing Great Nonprofit Emails.
- Advocacy & Facebook Political Ads: What Your Nonprofit Needs to Know.
- 5 Digital Fundraising Trends to Watch for in 2019.
- Facebook Fundraising Tools Now Allow Monthly Giving.
- How AI can help marketers be more human. #Irony.
- Cybersecurity Campaign Playbook.
- The Coming [Drone] Swarm Might Be Dead On Arrival.
- Everything old is new again: “According to historians, political debates in ancient Rome were conducted with great harshness and personal attacks, which were comparable to examples of hate speech on the internet.”
- And finally, Victorian-Era Orgasms and the Crisis of Peer Review. Science!
Too much is never enough? Check out previous Quick Hits editions.
– cpd