In this edition: 73 good stories related to digital politics and advocacy.
- How do you mobilize people during a pandemic? C.f. How To Connect With Audiences Sheltering In Place.
- Guide: Political Campaigning in the Time of Social Distancing.
- As America Stays Home, Candidates Turn To Digital Organizing Tech, including relational organizing tools. Via Eric Wilson.
- What to do right now: Social Media Groups.
- Bernie Sanders Is Out – But He Transformed Campaigning For Good.”Over the course of two presidential campaigns, Sanders showed how effective a digital-first movement could be.”
- Organizing for Sanders in New York when the city’s on lockdown and you can’t leave your apartment.”In this moment, folks are actually answering the phone. They actually want to talk to you”.
- Open Source Tools From the Warren for President Tech Team. The campaign is opening its organizing technology to the rest of us.
- Check out Andy Beshear and his Wholesome Meme Messengers, via Brian Devine
- The Virus Changed the Way We Internet, via Eric Wilson. Less time on the phone, more time on laptops/desktops, less attention to partisan news.
- Campaign Audiences Are Suddenly A Moving Target Online.
- How to advocate effectively in the age of COVID-19.
- FWIW: Bern’d out. Includes a look at digital ad spending to date, plus an examination of Bernie’s digital campaign.
- The Media Buyer’s Dilemma During The Coronavirus Pandemic.
- How To Fundraise During The Covid-19 Pandemic, and How to continue fundraising for non-pandemic causes.
- Lessons From Making The Switch To Digital Organizing.
- As Campaigns Move Online, America’s Chief Watchdog Isn’t Following.
- How the US ended up with nurses wearing garbage bags. Via tech execs who tried to help, a glimpse of complete dysfunction at the top. C.f. Email crash impeded HHS response to coronavirus, related to a feud within the department.
- Kushner Firm Built the Coronavirus Website Trump Promised, though it was never launched and may have violated ethics rules.
- Twitter removes David Clarke’s tweets as he and other Trump allies seed coronavirus conspiracy theories and doubt.
- New Trump video offers more spin than ‘hope’. If you like out-of-context quotes, you’re going to love this!
- Democrats Worry Biden Camp Is Unprepared for Coming Disinformation Onslaught. Ya think?
- Coronavirus is testing the limits of Russia’s surveillance state.
- Yes, Russia spreads coronavirus lies. But they were made in America.”While it is true there is Russian and Chinese disinformation pushing various narratives regarding the coronavirus, foreign actors are often merely curating messages that we Americans created.” C.f. How Russia and China Are Manipulating Coronavirus Conversations Online.
- Stealth political ads flourish on Facebook.”More than half of Facebook pages that featured U.S. political ads failed to disclose who was behind them, NYU researchers found.” Disclosure is simply not enough. C.f. Study: Facebook’s fake news labels have a fatal flaw.
- Facebook, Twitter suspend Russian-linked operation targeting African Americans on social media.
- China’s investigative journalists offer a fraught glimpse behind Beijing’s coronavirus propaganda.
- WhatsApp Limits Message Forwarding to Curb the Spread of Coronavirus Rumors.
- The Great A.I. Beta Test: Social media platforms are moving to automated content moderation, and no one is likely to win.
- Bloomberg’s online tactics test the boundary of disinformation.
- How the internet shutdown in Kashmir is splintering India’s democracy.
- Millions of tweets peddled conspiracy theories about coronavirus in other countries, State Department analysis shows.”The study, which said it excluded the United States, found early signs that some of the activity may have been coordinated and inauthentic.”
- U.S. combats martial law conspiracy theories as the National Guard assists in coronavirus response.
- Twitter’s first ‘manipulated media’ flag on Trump aide ignites fact-checking debate.
- Note:”The pro-Trump Great America super PAC on Wednesday launched a digital ad campaign attacking Joe Biden” over Hunter/Burisma.
- A brutal new ad uses Trump’s own words against him. Expect plenty of videos like this in the fall.
- Inside The ruthless Russian hacking unit that tried to crash Ukraine, and a lot more.
- Warren calls out Sanders for ‘organized nastiness’ and ‘bullying’ by his supporters. C.f. The doubt of a ‘Bernie Bro’: A hard-charging Sanders supporter questions whether his tactics help or hurt.
- Warren supporters say online trolls intensified when their candidate dropped out.
- David Plouffe’s new book:”Despite its potential toxicity, Plouffe argues that progressives — from campaigns to progressive activists — need to be more proactive about creating and sharing content. ‘To be in the game you have to be in the arena, and social media is the primary arena this race will be fought in. Fact of life,'” he writes.
- Why The PACs Will Be More Important Than Ever In The Pandemic Election Cycle.
- Five Ways to Get the Most from Virtual Campaign Events.
- Five technology + trends changing digital marketing in 2020.
- There Is Shockingly Little Oversight of Private Companies That Create Voting Technologies.
- How to Survive as a Marketer in a Cookie-less Future.
- Which Trends & Tech Do Marketers Think Are Most Overhyped?
- Small Data = Better Data = Effective Advocacy. An Advocacy Help Desk interview with past Epolitics.com contributor Henri Makembe.
- Top editors leave HuffPost and BuzzFeed amid growing doubts about the future of digital news.
- Use Competitive Intelligence to Improve Your Online Campaign.
- Everything You Should Check Before Hitting ‘Send’ On A Campaign Email.
- Mapping Corruption: The Interactive Exhibit. Simple but effective online presentation.
- Democrats are using a data scientist’s secret sauce to flip Texas blue. As always, temper your enthusiasm when it comes to Texas, though c.f. Democrats smell blood in Texas after sky-high primary turnout.
- 1996’s campaign websites didn’t change history. They’re just hilarious. Harsh headline — like making fun of an infant for not knowing how to walk — but a good overview.
- Small genius flex with Elizabeth Warren’s SMS campaign. Older story but good observations.
- Presidential Campaign Keyword Conversations. A review of SMS calls to action.
- 3 Advocacy Technology Trends Amid Coronavirus.
- 3 Steps To Hosting A Successful Tele-Town Hall During The Covid-19 Pandemic.
- Super Tuesday Exposes Campaign Tactics To New Scrutiny. Note the relatively high percentage Biden’s team allocated to digital. Also, candidates — and the moment — matter.
- A Tale Of Two Social Media Strategies. Trump v Bloomberg, organic support v paid.
- 3 Lessons For Investing In The Next Generation Of Political Tech.
- Gen Z was fed up with the status quo. Coronavirus could affirm their beliefs. In the meantime, they’re taking their advocacy work online.
- I would vote for Biden were it not for his aggressive online army of supporters.
- Trio dubbed ‘Golden Girls’ become sudden celebrities for their coronavirus isolation plans.
- And finally: Yes, this business still has your email! Here’s how we’re responding to covid-19!
Too much is never enough? Check out previous Quick Hits editions.
– cpd