- DNC launches new ad campaign as Biden and Democrats seek to sell Covid bill to Americans, with a digital component.
- Joe Biden shifts his political operation to the Democratic National Committee ahead of 2022 midterm election. “Jose Nunez, a former digital organizing director for Biden, will become the party’s deputy chief mobilization officer for organizing.”
- Consultants Brace For More Turbulence As Facebook Ads Return, Google Touts ‘Privacy-First’. C.f. Digital Consultants See Bumps On The Road To The Midterms. Rising ad prices, restricted targeting and more ad bans may be our new normal.
- House Democrats end controversial consultant ban.
- America’s Health Will Soon Be in the Hands of Very Minor Internet Celebrities. Influencer marketing meets Covid.
- The New York Mayoral Race Has Become a Zoom Hell.
- [Grassroots] Republican donations surge despite corporate boycott after Capitol riots. But, buyer beware: Donors gave a [Republican] House candidate more than $8 million. A single firm took nearly half of it..
- Congresswoman drops social media report on Republicans who tried to overturn the election for Trump. Read it yourself.
- Texas Democrats issue report on 2020 elections. Lack of canvassing hurt, amid a general problem of turning out low-propensity Democratic voters.
- Could a viral TikTok video get the military to take sexual assault serious?
- Google doubles down on its plan to disrupt ads that target Web history, and What Google’s Promise to Tamp Down on Tracking Users Really Means.
- Amazon’s Anti-Union Campaign Is Going to Some Strange Places, but Amazon-Owned Twitch Bans Amazon’s Union-Busting Ads, via Eric Wilson.
- Facebook political ad ban blocked pro-vaccine messages.
- Democrats drubbing Trumpless GOP on social media, via Eric Wilson.
- Fake News Gets More Engagement on Facebook — But Only If It’s Right-Wing.
- Far-Right Misinformation Is Thriving On Facebook. A New Study Shows Just How Much.
- How Facebook got addicted to spreading misinformation. “The company’s AI algorithms gave it an insatiable habit for lies and hate speech. Now the man who built them can’t fix the problem.”
- From vote to virus, misinformation campaign targets Latinos. Much of it spread via WhatApp and text messages, though automated accounts play a role, too. Note the use of manipulated video.
- Gendered disinformation is a national security problem.
- The Grim Consequences of a Misleading Study on Disinformation.
- Role of Public WhatsApp Groups Within the Hindutva Ecosystem of Hate and Narratives of “CoronaJihad”.
- ‘Nobody Listened To Me’: The Quest to Be MTG. “All Marjorie Taylor Greene ever wanted was someone to pay attention to her.” The interplay of social-media performance and reality.
- Where does QAnon go from here?
- Facebook just handed its critics in Washington a lot more ammunition. “The social media giant’s “bullying” of Australia worsens its problems at home.” C.f. Facebook’s Petty Unfriending of Australia.
- Misinformation spread even faster than usual during the Australia shutdown. .
- Trump sends cease-and-desist letter to GOP organizations to stop fundraising off his name, though that little conflict seems to have faded away.
- Trump battles GOP establishment over coveted small donors, via Eric Wilson. C.f. Trump’s latest explosion of rage against the GOP bodes badly for our future.
- YouTube CEO says Trump’s account will be restored when risk of violence recedes.
- Trump’s Next Challenge Is to Turn 74 Million Believers Into Buyers.
- Al Jazeera launching conservative media platform.
- Inside the new $65 million push from progressives to compete with conservative media.
- Special Forces to build ‘influence artillery’ for online campaigns.
- Operatives eye GOP grassroots fundraising overhaul, not for the first time.
- Far-Right Platform Gab Has Been Hacked — Including Private Data.
- Twitter debuts subscription products to help double revenue by 2023, and Twitter announces paid Super Follows to let you charge for tweets.
- The Political Advertising Black Box Must Be Destroyed. “Federal law allowed both the Trump and Biden campaigns to hide where their ad spending went. Either Congress or the FEC needs to close the loophole.”
- Major Trump backer Rebekah Mercer orchestrates Parler’s second act.
- Is it Time to Join the Club? Clubhouse and its Potential for Campaigns that Organise Online.
- ACRONYM’s New Influencer Toolkit.
- Digital Technology Helps Governments Target Critics Across Borders.
- Surviving the Texas Freeze in a Gerrymandered City. Republican congressmembers didn’t offer their Austin constituents much at all during the deep freeze via social media or email. Meanwhile, Beto and AOC raised millions.
- Is the Future of Campaign Creative Open Source? Interesting idea, though it would be hard to scale broadly to campaigns. Particularly down-ballot.
- Three Methods for Improving Your Digital Donor Experience.
- Lessons in Vetting: Don’t Just Google Your Candidate. C.f. Know Thine Enemy…and Theyself.
- Mitigating Virtual Volunteer Flake Rate.
- AI-powered chatbots deliver personalization at scale.
- Harnessing Momentum: 5 Tips to Engage New Supporters.
- And finally, Support House Republicans, get a copy of “Cat in the Hat”. #Priorities.
Too much is never enough? Check out previous Quick Hits editions.
– cpd