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New Media Campaigns and the Managed Citizen
Abstract
The political campaign is one of the most important organizations in a democracy, and whether issue, or candidate, specific, it is one of the least understood organizations in contemporary political life. With evidence from ethnographic immersion, survey data, and social network analysis, Philip Howard examines the evolving act of political campaigning and the changing organization of political campaigns over the last five election cycles, from 1996 to 2004. Over this time, both grassroots and elite political campaigns have gone online, built multimedia strategies, and constructed complex relational databases.
... Some pages are managed by long-time activists as part of their ongoing engagement within the party, often at a local level. These pages assist central campaigns in executing and disseminating their ideas and strategies (Howard, 2005), and occasionally exhibit a more activist spirit typical of citizen-initiated campaigns (Gibson, 2015). ...
... Previous research has shown that the Facebook pages of political parties can serve two opposing purposes. On the one hand, some scholars argue that online activists aim to disseminate their candidate's message following a top-down model (Howard, 2005;Gerodimos and Justinussen, 2015). On the other hand, other scholars emphasize participative practices (Heiss et al., 2019) by showing how they seek to build an online community, with a limited and local audience, for sharing information and answering questions about the candidate. ...
... The two predominant models of campaign organization discussed earlier-the topdown model (Howard, 2005;Gerodimos and Justinussen, 2015) and the "citizen-initiated" campaign (Gibson, 2015)-largely draw upon the Anglo-Saxon context. The French case offers a unique opportunity to examine these models, considering its distinctive multi-party system and specific legislation pertaining to campaign expenses and personal data in online political campaigns. ...
During presidential campaigns, party members often operate Facebook pages or groups concurrently with the official communications of their respective political parties. However, there is limited evidence regarding the true motivations of these partisans, and how their efforts supplement the online strategies of the parties. Our study is based on interviews conducted with party members who ran Facebook pages to support a candidate during the 2022 French presidential campaign. It sheds light on how they managed their Facebook pages, often autonomously, to serve as supplementary tools to their grassroots tactics and ultimately to bring the campaign closer to the voters. This finding highlights the emergence of a hybrid model of online campaign organization, the partisan-managed campaigning model, which challenges both the traditional top-down model, in which the campaign is managed by the central party, and the more recent citizen-initiated campaign model.
... Quem se elege prefeito nas capitais brasileiras? Condicionantes do sucesso eleitoral dos(as) vitoriosos(as) em 2020 participação em festas, velórios e afins, com perspectivas mais tecnológicas e relacionadas ao campo das campanhas on-line (Howard, 2006 Exposto isso, o próximo subtópico discute o uso de redes sociais on-line (RSO) nas campanhas municipais, este é um fenômeno que pode ser considerado relativamente recente, especialmente por conta dos avanços e liberações concedidas pela legislação eleitoral brasileira. Em seguida, apresenta-se um rápido panorama do contexto da disputa pelas capitais brasileiras em 2020, já levando em conta as mudanças provocadas pela pandemia da Covid-19. ...
... A busca inicial nas prestações de contas dos candidatos eleitos resultou em despesas alocadas em 20 tipos distintos de gastos -as tipologias são definidas pelo próprio TSE já no manual de prestação de contas. Posteriormente, esses gastos foram agrupados em tipologias baseadas em tipos de campanha eleitoral descritos pela literatura em Comunicação e Ciência Política (Howard, 2006;Norris, 2001;Speck;Mancuso, 2017). As tipologias são as seguintes: gastos de organização, despesas de campanha tradicional, despesas de campanha moderna, gastos com campanha hipermidiática e gastos classificados como "outros". ...
... O segundo nível de análise trata da coleta e tipologia dos gastos de campanha dos prefeituráveis. E, por fim, a terceira e última fase da análise busca enquadrar os candidatos eleitos em tipologias de carreira política (Carreras, 2012) As campanhas hipermidiáticas seriam aquelas baseadas no microtargeting (Howard, 2006) A partir do desempenho dos partidos do então presidente da República na eleição de 2020, pode-se sugerir que se faz necessário um debate sobre a nacionalização das eleições municipais, ou, mais especificamente, o desempenho de algumas legendas em nível nacional e o bom resultado de outros partidos em nível municipal. Em suma: os dados do pleito de 2020 sugerem que existem legendas com forte desempenho nas disputas nacionais, mas com dificuldades de replicar isso nos municípios; Ao mesmo tempo que também parecem existir partidos com forte presença local e regional, mas com empecilhos de fazer disso uma maior presença em Brasília. ...
A literatura em Ciência Política tem procurado examinar quais são os caminhos trilhados por candidatos vitoriosos nas campanhas eleitorais – estudos sobre recrutamento mostram que existem diversas variáveis que afetam as chances dos(as) candidatos(as) serem eleitos(as) ou não. Desta forma, este artigo apresenta uma reflexão sobre quem são os(as) 26 prefeitos(as) eleitos nas capitais brasileiras em 2020 a partir de variáveis de campanha, de perfil e também políticas. No grupo de variáveis de campanha estão reunidas informações sobre os gastos do(a) candidato(a), divididos em gastos de campanha tradicional, moderna e hipermidiática, e quanto ele(a) gastou diante do teto de custos da sua respectiva cidade. Nas variáveis de perfil são reunidas informações sobre a presença ou ausência do(a) político nas plataformas de campanha on-line. Por fim, as variáveis políticas preveem a classificação dos candidatos(as) em quatro tipologias de carreira política: insider, amateur, maverick e full outsider. A hipótese a ser testada no artigo é que na eleição de 2020, realizada em um contexto específico de pandemia, os candidatos vencedores(as) são, em sua maioria, insiders e utilizaram de amplos recursos de campanha digital, sem que tal uso represente gastos mais elevados com o que classificamos como campanha hipermidiática.
... Al concluir, debatimos cómo el fomento de publicaciones reduce el carácter institucional y público de la comunicación electoral, ya que transfiere a empresas tecnológicas privadas y transnacionales las funciones de distribución, regulación y transparencia de la propaganda electoral. O tema da propaganda eleitoral digital tem sido profundamente investigado na literatura internacional de comunicação política nas últimas duas décadas (Howard, 2006;Kreiss, 2011;Issenberg, 2012;Nielsen, 2012;Hersch, 2015). Mais recentemente, a campanha de Donald Trump pela presidência dos Estados Unidos, em 2016, chamou a atenção pelo uso extensivo de microdirecionamento no Facebook, sobretudo, pelo escândalo envolvendo a atuação da Cambridge Analytica (Trish, 2018). ...
... A hipótese 2 (H2), que afirma que candidaturas desenvolveram estratégias de direcionamento de anúncios que tendem a privilegiar segmentos percebidos como mais significativos, aborda uma preocupação central nos estudos relacionados: a possibilidade de direcionamento está inserida em um mercado informacional em que as audiências são comodificadas e agregadas para anunciantes, em que algumas parcelas podem ter mais valor estimado por características prévias, probabilidades de voto ou engajamento aferidas em mineração de dados (Nickerson;Rogers, 2014;Hersch, 2015). Isso leva a um modelo gerencial dos públicos com potencial de segregação, exclusão e silenciamento de populações que são ignoradas pelas candidaturas ao serem vistas como "desperdício de recursos" (Howard, 2006 Ainda assim, dados sobre os tipos de segmentação não suportam a ideia de microdirecionamento com a combinação de recortes geográficos, sociodemográficos e apelos de propostas distintos, em linha com usos incipientes de propaganda eleitoral digital em países como Alemanha, Canadá, Inglaterra e Holanda (Bennett, 2016;Bodó et al., 2017;Kruschinski;Haller, 2017;Anstead et al., 2018;Bennett;Gordon, 2020). Ou seja, mesmo que as campanhas tenham realizado segmentações de recortes etários, não encontramos um padrão de direcionamento que personalize a entrega de mensagens específicas para mais de um grupo sociodemográfico, combinando idade, estado e gênero, por exemplo. ...
... Os anúncios publicitários são uma forma direta de se construir uma audiência para mensagens a partir do investimento financeiro na compra de espaço em meios de comunicação. A internet estrutura um "mercado de atenção" caracterizado pela não linearidade entre o conteúdo apresentado na linha do tempo das candidaturas e a entrega dos anúncios, alta capacidade de segmentação do alcance em nichos muito específicos e serviços baseados em táticas orientadas pelo rastreamento e mensuração em dados(Howard, 2006).Plataformas de mídias sociais e intermediários digitais como Facebook e Google oferecem serviços de criação, segmentação, testagem e adaptação dos anúncios políticos em alta velocidade e custo relativamente baixoMcgregor, 2019). No Facebook, a segmentação de público pode ser feita pela ferramenta Audience Insights, que oferece ampla gama de categorias que podem ser combinadas, entre elas: local, idade, sexo, ocupação, escolaridade, interesses, renda estimada, participação em grupos, páginas curtidas; comportamento em websites, entre muitos outros(Thorson et al., 2019).Dessa forma, o microdirecionamento político (political micro targeting) é uma mudança significativa no processo de comunicação política, que passaria a se assemelhar a um laboratório em tempo real de testagem, otimização e quantificação da propaganda política. ...
A comunicação eleitoral brasileira passou por transformações em 2018. A autorização do patrocínio indiscriminado de publicações nas mídias sociais e em mecanismos de busca apresenta novidades significativas para as estratégias de propaganda eleitoral on-line no país. A proposta deste artigo é analisar os impactos da autorização do impulsionamento de publicações no Facebook dos candidatos à presidência em 2018, a fim de verificar se e de que forma as equipes de campanha desenvolveram estratégias de segmentação e direcionamento de conteúdo. Os resultados demonstram que determinados estados e recortes etários foram privilegiados e receberam mais investimento em detrimento de outros. Ao fim, debatemos como o impulsionamento de publicações reduz o caráter institucional e público da comunicação eleitoral, na medida em que transfere para empresas tecnológicas privadas e transnacionais as funções de distribuição, regulação e transparência da propaganda eleitoral.
... More and more researchers have found that social bots can not only act on the diffusion of negative information [13] but they can also facilitate the diffusion of positive content [14]. In other terms, social bots should be mainly considered as neutral technical tools that use algorithms to spread ideology and infiltrate social networks, and at the same time, they are political entities aiming to manipulate social opinion via propaganda [15], with both technical and social attributes. These dual attributes of bots enable them to participate by deeply interfering in ongoing communication via various important nodes in social networks and then connecting and integrating social network resources based on controlling smart virtual agent identities. ...
... As a new "pseudo-human specie" active in the virtual network, social bots are affecting more and more information dissemination dynamics with their personification (human-like) characteristics; it is obvious that they may truly become an "invisible hand" that would end up shaping real human society via propaganda and manipulation [15]. In recent years, scholars have primarily investigated the influence of social bots on social networks focusing on public opinion manipulation [34], spreading disinformation [35], and influencing public perception [36]. ...
... By solving (15), we obtain x = 0.5σ 1 and y = ±0.5 |4σ 2 − σ 1 |. The coexistence equilibrium point could have three different dynamical behaviors depending on x sign and value. ...
With the acceleration of human society’s digitization and the application of innovative technologies to emerging media, popular social media platforms are inundated by fresh news and multimedia content from multiple more or less reliable sources. This abundance of circulating and accessible information and content has intensified the difficulty of separating good, real, and true information from bad, false, and fake information. As it has been proven, most unwanted content is created automatically using bots (automated accounts supported by artificial intelligence), and it is difficult for authorities and respective media platforms to combat the proliferation of such malicious, pervasive, and artificially intelligent entities. In this article, we propose using automated account (bots)-originating content to compete with and reduce the speed of propagating a harmful rumor on a given social media platform by modeling the underlying relationship between the circulating contents when they are related to the same topic and present relative interest for respective online communities using differential equations and dynamical systems. We studied the proposed model qualitatively and quantitatively and found that peaceful coexistence could be obtained under certain conditions, and improving the controlled social bot’s content attractiveness and visibility has a significant impact on the long-term behavior of the system depending on the control parameters.
... One of the main interests in this type of dataset lies in identifying astroturfers. "Astroturfing" is defined by [1] as the practice of assisting politicians in promoting political or legal agendas by mobilizing people to sympathize and support their cause. This is achieved by creating an illusion of public consensus, which does not necessarily exist. ...
... One of the first in-depth studies of digital astroturfing appeared in [1]. Since then, the term has developed and taken various forms as astroturfing itself has mutated. ...
The practice of online astroturfing has become increasingly pervasive in recent years, with the growth in popularity of social media. Astroturfing consists of promoting social, political, or other agendas in a non-transparent or deceitful way, where the promoters masquerade as normative users while acting behind a mask that conceals their true identity, and at times that they are not human. In politics, astroturfing is currently considered one of the most severe online threats to democracy. The ability to automatically identify astroturfers thus constitutes a first step in eradicating this threat. We present a complete framework for handling a dataset of profiles, from data collection and efficient labeling, through feature extraction, and finally, to the identification of astroturfers lurking in the dataset. The data were collected over a period of 15 months, during which three consecutive elections were held in Israel. These raw data are unique in scope and size, consisting of several million public comments and reactions to posts on political candidates’ pages. For the manual labeling stage, we present a technique that can zoom in on a sufficiently large subset of astroturfer profiles, thus making the procedure highly efficient. The feature extraction stage consists of a temporal layer of features, which proves useful for identifying astroturfers. We then applied and compared several algorithms in the classification stage, and achieved improved results, with an F1 score of 77% and accuracy of 92%.
... Con este término nos referimos a aquellas campañas de redes sociales que parecen ser llevadas a cabo por activistas de base o grass-roots a favor o en contra de una causa política y que en realidad son un amplio conjunto de cuentas automáticas que actúan de forma estratégicamente organizada emulando el comportamiento humano (Howard, 2006;Walker, 2014). Con estas operaciones lo que se pretende es generar artificialmente una falsa sensación de apoyo o desacuerdo en torno a una idea en la que no existe consenso alguno con el fin de influenciar a las audiencias de las redes sociales con propósitos políticos y propagandísticos (Santana y Huerta, 2019). ...
... This term refers to social network campaigns that appear to be carried out by grass roots activists or groups, in favor or against a certain political cause, but which, in fact, are a large set of automatic accounts acting strategically to emulate human behavior (Howard, 2006;Walker, 2014). Through these operations, an attempt is made to generate a false sense of support or disagreement regarding an idea that lacks consensus, to influence social network users with political and propaganda-based purposes (Santana and Huerta, 2019). ...
La crisis sanitaria provocada por la pandemia de COVID-19 ha conllevado el decreto del estado de alarma en España y un severo confinamiento domiciliario que se fue suavizando en fases de desescalada. Durante este periodo, las redes se utilizaron aún más como herramienta de debate. Lo que se pretende con esta investigación es averiguar si se utilizaron herramientas de IA para que interviniesen en el debate político de Twitter. Para ello, se aplicaron algoritmos que determinan la presencia de bots en la conversación, sus roles comunicativos y su relación con los principales partidos políticos. Los datos extraídos demuestran que se crearon campañas de desinformación ejecutadas por bots con el objetivo de manipular la opinión pública.
... Desta forma, parte-se de um pressuposto de que quanto mais permissiva a legislação do ponto de vista das ações realizadas pelos candidatos(as), maior seriam as mudanças na forma de fazer campanha, mesmo em pleitos municipais e especialmente em período de pandemia (Lavareda;Telles, 2020). (Howard, 2006). ...
... Neste novo contexto de campanha,Howard (2006) defende que haveria o uso de novas mídias digitais, com anúncios de campanha direcionados, criados e distribuídos por meio da mídia digital. Neste cenário, pessoas que normalmente só podiam consumir conteúdo político, passam agora a também terem a possibilidade de produzi-lo e distribuí-lo por conta própriao que por sua vez não garante pluralidade no conteúdo consumido, visto o direcionamento de conteúdos baseado em dados estratégicos como posicionamento político, localização geográfica etc.Ao revisitar a conceituação apresentada por, Howard defende que enquanto as campanhas de mass media veiculavam um conteúdo produzido por consultorias para um grande número de pessoas, o contexto de campanhas hipermidiáticas restringiria o conteúdo a pessoas escolhidas intencionalmente, compreendidas como público-alvo daquelas mensagens políticas.Neste caso, haveria uma comunicação mais assertiva por parte dos candidatos(as) com os eleitores(as) pré-selecionados.De maneira mais recente, a pesquisadora Rachel Gibson (2020) busca sistematizar o processo de desenvolvimento de campanhas políticas digitais e os divide em quatro fases: a primeira delas é a fase de experimentação, seguida da etapa de padronização e profissionalização, em que as práticas tratadas na fase da experimentação se tornam mais padronizadas e passam pelo crivo de profissionais envolvidos no processo de campanha. ...
As eleições municipais brasileiras de 2020 foram realizadas em meio a pandemia da Covid-19 e essa circunstância fez com que uma série de mudanças fossem impostas na forma de fazer campanha, inclusive com adiamento do calendário eleitoral. O objetivo deste artigo é compreender padrões nos tipos de gastos de campanha declarados por candidatos(as) que disputaram o comando das 26 capitais brasileiras em 2020. A pergunta que move esse artigo é: há diferenças nos gastos que tipos de candidatos fazem durante a campanha? A pesquisa lança mão de uma metodologia quantitativa e reúne dados das prestações de contas de todos(as) os(as) candidatos(as) de capitais que tiveram as candidaturas deferidas, formando um corpus de 304 candidatos(as). Os dados apontam para a manutenção de mecanismos de campanha off-line. Desta forma, a pesquisa conclui que há um padrão nas campanhas em capitais brasileiras representado pelo gasto com mecanismos tradicionais (rádio, TV e material impresso), enquanto os gastos com ferramentas de campanha on-line representaram fatias pequenas dos gastos das disputas.
... The changes go by many different names in political communication literature, including "Americanization," "modernization," "marketization," "hybridization," or "professionalization" (Lilleker & Negrine, 2002;Plasser & Plasser, 2002;. The terms to describe transformation processes vary depending on whether they are mainly seen as a diffusion process simply transferring practices from one country to another, as logical adjustments to socioeconomic changes, as commercial techniques, focusing on their potential to mixture global trends and country-specific contexts, or addressing their tendencies to optimize campaign tool-boxes available within existing personal and economic resources (Gibson & Römmele, 2001Plasser & Plasser, 2002;Howard, 2006). for a critique, see Tenscher, 2013). ...
... In a third, postmodern stage, mediated communication becomes more fragmented with the introduction of digital media platforms and greater possibilities of direct communication between voters and politicians (Norris, 2000). This third stage of campaigning has also been referred to as "hypermedia" campaigning as political messages are communicated and re-composed across diverse channels simultaneously (Howard, 2006). In recent years, communication scholars have discussed a "fourth age" of data-driven campaigning where the digital tools and infrastructure enable more personalized communication and networking with voters (Römmele & Gibson, 2020). ...
The concept of media populism originally assumes a relationship between the way journalistic media operate and populism, and in a more narrow sense, refers to the idea that media outlets and actors can convey a populist ideology or discourse. This contribution shortly reviews the history of the concept and reviews different understandings. It then discusses various challenges, both methodological and in terms of transferring the concept to social media and new political issues. The article concludes with some remarks on the problem of conceptual overstretching, ambiguity, and contestedness.
... Dès lors, se pose la question de savoir comment s'effectue, en campagne, la prise en main de dispositifs numériques par les candidats et les organisations. Pour les cerner, les recherches se sont focalisées sur la « professionnalisation » des campagnes numériques (Howard, 2006 ;Kreiss, 2012 ;Blanchard, 2018Blanchard, et 2019, c'est-à-dire sur les intermédiaires qui organisent la relation entre candidats et partis d'un côté, et militants, sympathisants ou électeurs de l'autre. Le recours à des personnels spécialisés -conseillers en communication numérique, chargés de communication web, community managers, désormais également data scientists -est principalement documenté aux États-Unis et en France concernant la campagne présidentielle de 2012 (Théviot, 2018(Théviot, et 2019bBlanchard, 2018Blanchard, et 2019. ...
... Au-delà de l'appareil partisan et des candidats, la question du contrôle que peuvent exercer les organisations politiques sur les soutiens par le biais des plateformes reste discutée. D'un côté, des recherches défendent l'idée selon laquelle faire campagne en contexte numérique consiste en fait à « manager les citoyens » en les enrôlant, puis en stimulant et contrôlant leurs activités, en leur laissant un minimum d'initiative (Howard, 2006 ;Kreiss, 2016). D'un autre côté, des travaux estiment au contraire que les campagnes sont pour partie transférées des candidats et organisations vers si « le nouveau militant, censé être libre et inclusif » ne serait pas « aussi un militant passif, sans réflexion et dévoué au leader ». ...
... Społeczny nacisk generuje średni wzrost frekwencji wyborczej o 2,9%, podczas gdy działalność agitacyjna przekłada się na wzrost o 2,5%, a rozmowy telefoniczne prowadzone w ramach kampanii -o 2%. Z kolei grupy wyborców zadeklarowane jako nieuczestniczące w wyborach mogą być w czasie kampanii pomijane -wszak wydatkowanie funduszy na kampanię informacyjną wśród elektoratu, który i tak nie pójdzie do wyborów, wydaje się bezcelowe (Howard 2006). Stanowi to przykład współczesnego wykluczenia społecznego. ...
... Z drugiej jednak strony niektóre informacje mogą nie docierać do obywateli, przez co uniemożliwia się im uzyskanie pełnej perspektywy na rzeczywistość, podejmowanie autonomicznych osądów moralnych i samostanowienie (Zuboff 2020, s. 266). Pewne grupy mogą być pomijane jako mało wartościowy odbiorca treści informacyjnych, co jest dokonywane automatycznie przez algorytmy i kontrolujące je koncerny technologiczne (Howard 2006;Pasquale 2015;Zuboff 2020). ...
Rozważania przedstawione w niniejszej monografii dotyczą społecznego aspektu cyberbezpieczeństwa. W toku analizy zwrócono szczególną uwagę na wielowymiarowy wpływ działań i manipulacji w cyberprzestrzeni na jednostkę i społeczeństwo oraz kształtujące się w ich efekcie nowe relacje władzy. Badaniem objęto obszar mediów społecznościowych, które odgrywają istotną rolę w zapewnieniu ochrony w cyberprzestrzeni. Rolę mediów, w tym mediów społecznościowych, należy rozpatrywać, przyjmując, że nie służą one jedynie transmisji informacji i treści symbolicznych, ale przyczyniają się do wytworzenia nowych form działania, interakcji i relacji społecznych, a efekt ich oddziaływania można upatrywać w konsolidacji władzy i wzmocnieniu różnorodnych podmiotów. W niniejszej publikacji przyjęto zatem podejście konstruktywistyczne i skupiono się na wpływie social mediów na społeczeństwo, przede wszystkim w sferze społeczno-politycznej. Przedmiotem prezentowanych badań są zagrożenia dla bezpieczeństwa występujące w cyberprzestrzeni, a szczególnie w przestrzeni mediów społecznościowych, z wyszczególnieniem zagrożeń o charakterze społecznym, politycznym i informacyjnym. W badaniach teoretycznych analizie poddano szereg zagrożeń obecnych w cyberprzestrzeni, scharakteryzowano je oraz wskazano ich uwarunkowania i wpływ zarówno na jednostkę, jak i na społeczeństwo, z podkreśleniem implikacji dla bezpieczeństwa. W celu ich kompleksowego poznania należało poddać szczegółowej deskrypcji ekosystem serwisów społecznościowych ze wskazaniem jego złożoności i nieregularności wynikających z wzajemnych interakcji technologii i jednostki. Opisano także procesy zachodzące w strukturach społecznych i systemach biznesowych i politycznych, które mają bezpośrednie przełożenie na relacje władzy i kontroli oraz bezpieczeństwo personalne, narodowe i międzynarodowe. Zrozumienie funkcjonowania ekosystemu serwisów społecznościowych pozwoliło wyróżnić wiele zagrożeń o charakterze społecznym, politycznym i informacyjnym, które poddano szczegółowej analizie. W badaniach empirycznych skoncentrowano się na przedstawieniu roli serwisów społecznościowych w czasie krytycznych wydarzeń społeczno-politycznych oraz na diagnozie obecności w cyberprzestrzeni wybranych zagrożeń: (1) agresji werbalnej (jako przykładu zagrożenia o charakterze społecznym), (2) polaryzacji (jako przykładu zagrożenia o charakterze politycznym), (3) dezinformacji i fake newsów (jako zagrożeń o charakterze informacyjnym).
Każde z wymienionych zagrożeń stanowi oddzielny przypadek i jest w rozprawie poddane analizie teoretycznej – na podstawie literatury przedmiotu – oraz empirycznej. Przed omówieniem badań empirycznych zagrożenia rozpatrywane są z uwzględnieniem konstruktu teoretycznego opartego na analizie następujących wymiarów: czynników warunkujących powstanie zagrożenia, wpływu mediów społecznościowych na jego rozwój oraz konsekwencji dla społeczeństwa demokratycznego.
... Researchers warned about the potential for abuse of the social media ecosystem for political propaganda a decade ago (Howard, 2006;Hwang, et al, 2012). The earliest reports of coordinated attacks against political candidates on social media date back to 2010 (Metaxas & Mustafaraj, 2012;Ratkiewicz, et al., 2011a;Ratkiewicz, et al., 2011b). ...
Recent accounts from researchers, journalists, as well as federal investigators, reached a unanimous conclusion: social media are systematically exploited to manipulate and alter public opinion. Some disinformation campaigns have been coordinated by means of bots, social media accounts controlled by computer scripts that try to disguise themselves as legitimate human users. In this study, we describe one such operation occurred in the run up to the 2017 French presidential election. We collected a massive Twitter dataset of nearly 17 million posts occurred between April 27 and May 7, 2017 (Election Day). We then set to study the MacronLeaks disinformation campaign: By leveraging a mix of machine learning and cognitive behavioral modeling techniques, we separated humans from bots, and then studied the activities of the two groups taken independently, as well as their interplay. We provide a characterization of both the bots and the users who engaged with them and oppose it to those users who didn't. Prior interests of disinformation adopters pinpoint to the reasons of the scarce success of this campaign: the users who engaged with MacronLeaks are mostly foreigners with a preexisting interest in alt-right topics and alternative news media, rather than French users with diverse political views. Concluding, anomalous account usage patterns suggest the possible existence of a black-market for reusable political disinformation bots.
... [3], [18], [19] Political algorithms have become a powerful means of political communication for "astroturfing" movementsdefined as the managed perception of grassroots support. [20] In this way bots have become a means of managing citizens, involves an international, interdisciplinary team of researchers investigating the impact of automated scripts-computational propagandaon public life. We track social bots and use perspectives from organizational sociology, human computer interaction, communication, and political science to interpret and analyze the evidence we are gathering. ...
Bots are social media accounts that automate interaction with other users, and they are active on the StrongerIn-Brexit conversation happening over Twitter. These automated scripts generate content through these platforms and then interact with people. Political bots are automated accounts that are particularly active on public policy issues, elections, and political crises. In this preliminary study on the use of political bots during the UK referendum on EU membership, we analyze the tweeting patterns for both human users and bots. We find that political bots have a small but strategic role in the referendum conversations: (1) the family of hashtags associated with the argument for leaving the EU dominates, (2) different perspectives on the issue utilize different levels of automation, and (3) less than 1 percent of sampled accounts generate almost a third of all the messages.
... Each domain faces unique challenges and opportunities in the management and utilization of DF. Terms like 'digital shadow' or 'data shadow' describe the information individuals leave behind during online activities such as checking emails or shopping (Howard, 2006). Another relevant concept is 'web tracking', which refers to cookie tracking via HTTP for mass surveillance (Englehardt et al., 2015). ...
In a world where Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) increasingly leverage their Digital Footprint (DF) for business growth, ethical concerns surrounding employee and customer DF pose a significant challenge. This research investigates how SMEs can navigate this complex landscape, balancing the creation of business value
with the broader social value of managing data. Drawing upon Kantian ethics, which emphasizes the duties of organizations to respect individuals’ autonomy and protect their rights, the study addresses a critical gap in understanding the ethical
implications of DF for business value creation and employee experiences. Using a social constructivist approach, the research reveals the importance of DF awareness and proposes a novel conceptualization of DF as a dual entity: (i) an independent actor influencing consumer decisions and (ii) a collaborative activity within and beyond the organization. This broadens the traditional view of DF and informs a new framework for ethical DF management in SMEs. This framework emphasizes four core pillars – data transparency, data protection, data privacy, and data transformation – supported by stakeholder involvement. The study also highlights overarching factors three key actions and DF strategic implications at the end.
... However, gatekeeping information can influence campaigns, public and political attitudes, and voting behaviour (see Soroka, 2012). Using the technological infrastructure of Meta, such as their exclusion criteria or algorithms, parties can opt to exclude citizens deemed less valuable for a political campaign (what is known as "political redlining"; Gorton, 2016;Howard, 2005). This strategy highlights the "perceived" electorate in a digital context (Hersh, 2015). ...
Using citizens’ data not only enables precise targeting of campaign messages online, but also the deliberate exclusion of certain groups of citizens. This study asks (a) to what extent have citizens been excluded from political (online) ads during the Dutch 2021 and 2023 election campaigns and (b) how acceptable citizens find the practice of exclusion. To answer these questions, we use data from the Meta Ad Targeting dataset to investigate any employed exclusion criteria by parties and rely on survey data collected during the 2023 Dutch general election to learn about citizens’ opinions. Our study reveals that political parties across the spectrum allocated less budget to targeting and excluding citizens in 2023 compared to 2021. Predominantly, exclusion is based on age, gender, and place of residence, with criteria such as political views, migration background, and religious beliefs being relatively uncommon. Despite citizens considering all forms of exclusion unacceptable, they view exclusion based on political views as the most tolerable. Moreover, individuals leaning towards the political right exhibit greater acceptance of exclusion, particularly based on migration background. In scrutinizing the extent of citizen exclusion from political campaign messaging and citizens’ perceptions, we contribute to the discourse on the unintended consequences of data-driven campaigning.
... Las plataformas digitales han facilitado la segmentación del electorado, permitiendo a los partidos dirigir mensajes específicos a diferentes grupos demográficos. A través de la publicidad dirigida y los análisis de datos, los candidatos han podido adaptar sus estrategias de comunicación para maximizar su impacto y atraer a votantes indecisos (Howard, 2006). ...
Las redes sociales electrónicas y las plataformas digitales han revolucionado la manera como se llevan a cabo las campañas electorales, y cómo los votantes interactúan con los candidatos y partidos políticos. En el proceso electoral de 2023-2024 en el estado de Guanajuato, estas herramientas jugaron un papel crucial en la dinámica política local, afectando significativamente la competitividad electoral.
... Outros autores, como Philip N. Howard (2006) e Rachel Gibson (2020), acrescentam outras classificações às formas de campanhas da atualidade, em que a primeira chama de campanha hipermidiática, marcada por uma disponibilidade de dados, seja do eleitorado ou dos candidatos, permite, assim, um acesso informacional de grande escala e possibilita uma estratégia comunicacional mais precisa e dinâmica. O segundo denomina a fase mais recente do desenvolvimento das campanhas no campo digital como mobilização individual de eleitores, em que o papel das novas tecnologias é primordial, indo desde processos automatizados e personalizados até a utilização de softwares sofisticados. ...
Este artigo tem como objetivo central tratar a temática das campanhas online como importante instrumento de mobilização e impulsionamento de visibilidade por atores políticos envolvidos no cenário das campanhas eleitorais nos últimos anos. Partimos da seguinte questão: diante da ampliação de acesso à internet e uso intensivo de redes sociais online, acompanhado das mudanças recentes no arcabouço institucional brasileiro, no âmbito da legislação eleitoral, os gastos com campanha online nas eleições majoritárias municipais brasileiras de 2020 ocorreu de forma homogênea em todo território nacional? A pesquisa reúne um universo de 5.568 disputas eleitorais realizadas nos municípios brasileiros no primeiro turno das eleições, realizamos a coleta de dados sobre prestação de contas no repositório do Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (TSE), reunimos todos esses dados numa fonte única, com a utilização do software R, onde foi realizada a otimização e análise dos dados a partir das variáveis selecionadas: porte eleitoral do município; região do país; orientação ideológica; e eleitos e não eleitos. A partir da análise descritiva, verificou-se que os gastos com campanha online não ocorreram de forma homogênea em todo território brasileiro; além disso, no tocante à variável partidos e orientação ideológica, refletem de alguma maneira aspectos contextuais quanto ao crescimento do bloco de direita nas últimas eleições municipais brasileiras; e que entre os candidatos não eleitos são relativamente maiores do que entre os candidatos eleitos.
... This was an opportunity to help the candidate to manage the volunteers during the campaign. Philipp Howard (2006) has already shed light on the use of data with the aim of organizing the management of citizens not affiliated to a political party. For Rachel Gibson (2013), the campaign by Barack Obama, like the campaigns of UK parties in the 2010 general election, show the emergence of a new style of campaigning, a "citizen-initiated" model, "through which parties and candidates transfer the initiative over core tasks such as voter mobilization to their grassroots supporters via digital tools": "in practice, this means that key tasks such as canvassing voters, raising funds and recruiting other volunteers are outsourced to this new army of online volunteers who, having signed up via a central web hub, are given a capacity for autonomous action and tactical control of campaign operations at the local level on a scale that was not possible in the pre-digital era" (Gibson, 2013). ...
The article analyzes the similarities and differences between how digital technologies are used by candidates to organize their campaign and collective actions. More precisely, it addresses the question how far candidates from established parties and candidates from outside of established parties used the web differently in the 2017 presidential election campaign in France. How did they use the web to recruit activists and to structure the mobilization either online or in urban space? We thus bring questions about the blurring of strategy between political parties and social movements using digital technologies.
... Both reflections on the powers of assemblage and mobility show that the technologies and infrastructures assembled to structure political communication practices are programmed from very particular values (Howard, 2005). These political values impact how electoral systems are structured and configured. ...
Although rallies are essential to political communication campaigns, they have been little studied. Thus, this article presents an ethnographic observation of the Democratic campaign rallies during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Two research questions structure the paper: How do material things-including human bodies-and their transportation structure the production and reproduction of rallies as political communication systems? What kind of political communication assemblages constructs the materiality of rallies? The text presents three conclusions. 1) A substantial part of the materiality of these rallies was composed of human bodies and many other things that were transported to a specific space to have copresent interactions with other bodies. 2) The production of these rallies required creating an infrastructural space built upon transporting a myriad of material objects to a specific place. These objects constituted the material bases for developing these rallies as a set of political communication practices. 3) These rallies can be conceptualised as mobile and itinerant assemblages for transportation and communication. These rallies were a means of transportation that moved the candidate's body across a vast territory and a (political) media of communication designed to transcend the time and space in which these events were produced.
... Digital technologies have long promised campaigns access to immense amounts of data and, at least in theory, more control over potential voters they reach. Howard (2006), for instance, argued that electoral and issue campaigns manage citizens based on the trace data they leave in digital settings. Work by Stromer-Galley (2014) and Kreiss (2012) also uncovered a growing reliance on sophisticated party voter databases, experimental A/B testing of messages, and other digital trace data. ...
... Digital technologies have long promised campaigns access to immense amounts of data and, at least in theory, more control over potential voters they reach. Howard (2006), for instance, argued that electoral and issue campaigns manage citizens based on the trace data they leave in digital settings. Work by Stromer-Galley (2014) and Kreiss (2012) also uncovered a growing reliance on sophisticated party voter databases, experimental A/B testing of messages, and other digital trace data. ...
Leading scholars analyze three disruptions in the 2020 presidential campaign and election: disruptions to the status quo caused by the renewed quest for racial justice and greater diversity of candidates; pandemic disruptions to traditional campaigning; and disruptions to democratic norms.
Democracy Disrupted documents the most significant features of the 2020 U.S. presidential election through research conducted by leading scholars in political communication. Chapters consider the coinciding of three historical events in 2020: a 100-year pandemic co-occurring with the presidential campaign, the reinvigorated call for social and racial justice in response to the killing of George Floyd and other Black men and women, and the authoritarian lurch that emerged in reaction to Donald Trump's norm-challenging rhetoric. The Democratic Party's campaign stood out because of the historically diverse field of presidential candidates and the election of the first female vice president.
Chapter authors adopt diverse scientific methodologies and field-leading theories of political communication to understand the way these events forced candidates, campaigns, and voters to adapt to these extraordinary circumstances. Experiments, surveys, case studies, and textual analysis illuminate essential features of this once-in-a-generation campaign. This timely volume is edited by four scholars who have been central to describing and contextualizing each recent presidential contest.
... All of these factors are connected in a way that give credibility to the idea that public opinion has generated a movement. This type of circumstance occurs preferably in a political context, implying the emergence of more specific concepts such as political astroturfing (Howard, 2006;Walker, 2014), "a campaign in which participants appear to be part of a genuine grassroots movement or sentiment, while it is in fact orchestrated centrally and top down" (Kellet et al., 2019, p. 1). ...
We present data from a survey conducted in Spain (N = 1003) in March 2022. We analysed fact-checker activity to obtain daily information regarding disinformation content encountered in the three weeks before the survey was launched. The research team analysed the material found to identify content that was related or that belonged to similar narratives. The goal was to identify the key disinformation narratives that were spreading before the survey, rather than just isolated content, to test the reach and impact of disinformation narratives, as well as spreading patterns, through survey research. Results point towards the fact that disinformation narratives were spread among a majority of respondents, with TV and social media being the main media responsible for spreading them. In addition, those that received the narratives before were more likely to believe them, indicating the disinformation narratives’ potential high impact.
... This form of persuasion -across digital platforms and driven by software algorithms -is both fairly recent, and (in technologically advanced societies) ubiquitous. It may therefore be sensible to speak, with Howard (2005) of 'managed' (digital) citizens, whose choices and behaviours are conditioned and influenced to some extent by the architectural spaces they inhabit when online. Thus, 'communication on social media is mediated by a platform's digital architectureâ€"the technical protocols that enable, constrain, and shape user behaviour in a virtual space' (Bossetta 2018). ...
Persuasion is a process that aims to utilize (true or false) information to change people’s attitudes in relation to something, usually as a precursor to behavioural change. Its use is prevalent in democratic societies, which do not, in principle, permit censorship of information or the use of force to enact power. The transition of information to the internet, particularly with the rise of social media, together with the capacity to capture, store and process big data, and advances in machine learning, have transformed the way modern persuasion is conducted. This has led to new opportunities for persuaders, but also to well-documented instances of abuse: fake news, Cambridge Analytica, foreign interference in elections, etc. We investigate large-scale technology-based persuasion, with the help of three case studies derived from secondary sources, in order to identify and describe the underlying technology architecture and propose issues for future research, including a number of ethical concerns
... Studying digital campaigns in the United States, Howard (2006) identified the "hypermedia campaign" as characterized by the work of professional technocrats with expertise in information technology, target media tools to tailor messages to specific audiences, and technical decisions constraining the production and consumption of political content. The hypermedia campaign enabled political actors, consultants, and staff to create minorities rather than follow majorities, "directing public opinion, not just obeying it, and managing the contemporary performance of citizenship" (Howard, 2006, p. 204). ...
This article aims to analyze the consequences of digital media on elections and democracy in Brazil from a historical perspective. It will do this by reviewing the ages, phases, and stages of political communication, proposing a contextual description of media and politics in Brazil, and historicizing digital campaigns in the country from 2010 to 2020. It will discuss the Brazilian context concerning the canonical historical approaches and debate the radicalization of Brazilian politics and the equalization of electoral campaigns. Besides that, it will suggest a holistic conception to understand the stages of political communication and digital campaigns in Brazil: the notion of “postmodern without modernization,” following Néstor Canclini’s idea of modernism without modernization for Latin America.
... Grundsätzlich kann zwischen positiv und negativ konnotierten Verantwortungszuweisungen unterschieden werden. (Howard 2006(Howard , 2020Howard et al. 2018;Lanier 2010;Reviglio & Agosti 2020;Siri 2020;Stroud 2011;Tucker et al. 2018;Vallor 2016 ...
Der vorliegende Forschungsbericht präsentiert die Ergebnisse einer Studie zur medialen Berichterstattung über Social Media und Social Companions in Österreich. Die Studie wurde im Rahmen des Forschungsprojekts "Media reporting on algorithms, robotics and artificial intelligence: Representation of risks and responsibility in the automation debate" (MARA) durchgeführt, das mit Mitteln aus dem Forschungsprogramm Go!Digital Next Generation der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaft gefördert wurde.
... It is also argued that it can also mobilize politically inactive individuals (Barber 2001) or further stimulate active user participation (Polat 2005). Especially, nowadays when more and more citizens use social media to be informed about politics, to form opinions and, in general, to feel that they are more active in political processes (Howard 2006). ...
Developing a personal brand in the world of social media is a new trend. Existing literature examines how professionals, actors, athletes, influencers can utilize social media platforms to build strong personal brands. However, the phenomenon of positioning brand for politicians, online, in a race to gain the middle voter with limited ideological differences between the two main political parties is rarely studied, despite its growing importance, especially during the election period. This research seeks to fulfill this gap and tries to understand what kind of personal branding can be formed successfully on YouTube for politicians’ campaigns. The analysis explores visual storytelling of brand-building of the two political leaders in Greece in the 2019 European Parliament pre-election period. The results revealed that a visual storytelling with emotional symbols, authentic appearances and universal slogans were the main points of difference for politicians to position effectively. The results could help the growth of political-personal branding theory and practitioners for political marketing strategies on YouTube. Directions for future research are discussed as well.
... ISSN: 2174-3681 To achieve these goals, the theoretical framework of this paper stems from a topic that has received wide attention on the literature regarding the political use of SNSs: the theory of internet interactivity. Interactive communication is regarded as one of the functions of campaigning served by technology (Howard, 2006), as well as a major area of Internet campaigning literature (Gulati and Williams, 2007). We understand interactivity here as "userto-user interaction" (Small, 2011, p. 887), thus linking to the idea of dialogue with citizens beyond the mere broadcasting of information. ...
Es un escenario donde los partidos tradicionales pierden apoyo popular, los partidos minoritarios se erigen como sujetos relevantes en las democracias contemporáneas. Esta relevancia implica que desde la investigación académica la comunicación de los partidos minoritarios deba estudiarse en sus propios términos. Ignorados por los medios de comunicación tradicionales, los partidos minoritarios necesitan aprovechar las ventajas que suponen la web y las RRSS para competir con los grandes partidos. Este trabajo analiza la comunicación en redes sociales de los partidos minoritarios españoles en las elecciones generales de abril de 2019, con una muestra de 1.498 tuits recogidos de los perfiles oficiales de Twitter de los (por entonces) cuatro principales partidos minoritarios: PACMA, el Partido Comunista de los Pueblos de España, Recortes Cero y VOX. Los resultados indican falta de interacción y diálogo partidos-ciudadanos, con tuits de movilización centrados en las funciones tradicionales de impulso de la campaña.
Access to the internet has been advocated as human right or basic right as it mediates and leads to not only participation in the democratic process but also access to the basic services which a society or state has to offer. The state and corporate governance is also being shaped from the usual bureaucratic ones to that which works on the network of flow of information. Digitalization is also making possible not only the interaction of citizens with the state machinery in real-time and also economical but also leading to ‘open governance’, where the rules, processes, and deliveries or actions have become more transparent. ‘Digital governance’, and/or ‘e-governance’ is the term used to define the internet-mediated governance process.
Stakeholders need to collaborate to create ethical frameworks and policies so that as AI is increasingly incorporated into politics, it strengthens rather than undermines democratic processes and fosters a more diverse and equal political environment. This essay investigates AI's impact on democracy and its application to political advertising, campaigning, and participation. The finding found that AI has become a revolutionary force in politics, greatly improving advertising, campaigning, and voter mobilization. Although artificial intelligence (AI) has enormous potential to increase democratic participation, it also presents serious ethical issues, such as worries about accountability, transparency, and manipulation risk. In order to ensure that AI enhances democratic processes rather than weakens them and promotes a more inclusive and equitable political environment as AI becomes more integrated into politics, stakeholders must work together to develop policies and ethical frameworks.
The digital information space is a growing arena for contestation and manipulation by threat actors. Examples of foreign interference during democratic elections, disinformation and foreign influence campaigns, and the transnational transfer of disinformation in a diversifying digital landscape pose discrete threats and challenges for liberal and plural democracies like Canada. Yet, disinformation is not experienced universally or uniformly, suggesting the need to understand differential experiences to and harms of disinformation for subpopulations to effectively address the emerging challenge. This chapter explores the complex and evolving digital information landscape of ethnocultural diasporas in Canada, by asking how to understand differential exposures to and experiences with digital disinformation. Drawing on research on the study of disinformation and the experience of ethnocultural diasporas and racialized and marginalized communities, this chapter highlights two distinct diaspora experiences in the digital information space: (i) the use of private chat and direct messaging apps, and (ii) the identity-based vulnerabilities that include the targeting of disinformation campaigns and digitally subversive activities to ethnocultural diasporas. In doing so, the chapter notes the need for tailored mitigation strategies that consider the different disinformation experiences of ethnocultural diasporas, ones that move beyond conventional legal-regulatory approaches. Instead, mitigation strategies must be developed in ways that build trust, capacity, and resiliency within these communities to effectively counter the spread of disinformation. Building strategies based on connection and empowerment can help lessen the negative impacts of disinformation while simultaneously upholding liberal democratic values and ideals.
This article explores the development of cultural identities on digital platforms and the influence of these identities on political and social interactions. This analysis centers on the impact of digital revolution on cultural diversity and the creation of online identity politics. Online platforms enable individuals to express and reinforce their cultural identities, but they can also facilitate cultural conflicts. The article examines the political and social consequences of the development of cultural identities on the internet and explores topics such as safeguarding or stifling diversity. Hence, comprehending the impacts of digital transformation on cultural identities is a substantial challenge and potential for political decision-makers. This article seeks to enhance comprehension of cultural identities and politics on online platforms within political and social contexts.
This article explores the intricate intersection of commerce and political campaigns, unraveling how business strategies intertwine with political marketing. Analyzing the symbiotic relationship between commerce and politics, the article investigates how political campaigns increasingly draw inspiration from successful business models. Delving into strategic branding, fundraising dynamics, data-driven decision-making, media strategies, and ethical considerations, the study provides insights into the evolving landscape where commerce influences political campaigns.
This study investigates what we call proxy organizations (e.g., shell companies, front organizations, astroturfing efforts). Drawing on existing literature to better conceptualize proxy organizations and their communicative nature, we position these proxy organizations within scholarship on visibility management and hidden organizing. To answer research questions about public discourse around these proxies and their use of concealment strategies, we analyze news coverage of these organizations from 2001, 2011, and 2021. Findings suggest sizable increases in discourse about each proxy type. Additionally, analysis reveals several concealment themes in that media coverage: dark/secret money/finances, hidden owners, shadowy influence, anonymous proxies, covert links, online concealment, secret/illegal activities, and revelation safety/fear. We then draw conclusions, discuss implications, and suggest directions for future organizational communication research about proxy organizations.
The idea of professionalization of election campaigning has in recent times been challenged both by rapid digital and social media developments, and by the growth of populist campaign features, anti-establishment parties, and candidates. Still, most empirical evidence so far suggests that the most professionalized competitors also use social media most efficiently, and that populist parties often adapt to more professionalized campaigning when they become part of the political establishment. Professionalization should not be considered a permanent condition with a specific set of outstanding campaign activities for all times, but rather an ongoing process reshuffling campaign components to be able to achieve desired objectives at any given time. Thus, it is still a valid and relevant concept for the understanding of modern election campaigns in democratic states.
This research works to understand the Reality and nature of political marketing on Facebook platform which used by political parties in Kurdistan Region to influence voters in Iraqi Parliament campaigns since 2021. The sample of the study is the total number of posts that political parties in the campaign elections published on the official Facebook pages, and the samples were taken in a purposive way(non-probability sample).The most important findings of the study are; Political parties published 51.2% of the posts in the form of images, while 0.1% of the posts contained only text, which is the lowest rate compared to other forms. On the other hand, the results showed that the majority of political parties paid attention to Promotion strategies. Regarding the engagement of Facebook, New Generation Movement’s Facebook page has the most engagement on political marketing posts and the results show that the most reactions with the posts of New Generation Movement, (60.05%).
In mass democracies, where it is impossible for candidates to meet most voters in person, political campaigning has always relied centrally on mass media. Since the beginnings of democracy, vast resources have been committed to campaign communications, motivated by the “widespread belief that media coverage matters to the outcome of elections” (Franklin 2004, 8). Friedenberg (1997), in his history of political consultants in the US, traced mediated campaigns back to colonial elections of the mid‐1700s. He suggested that the first “media blitz” in a political campaign took place during the failed presidential bid of Thomas Jefferson in 1796, in which the campaign manager flooded the targeted state of Pennsylvania “with thousands of political handbills and over 30,000 sample ballots” in an election where only 12,000 Pennsylvanians voted (Friedenberg 1997, 4).
Astroturfing, belirli bir gündem veya ürün için yaygın bir taban desteği izlenimi oluşturmak için kullanılan aldatıcı bir yöntemdir. Belirli bir mesajı yaymak için sahte çevrim içi kimliklerin, paralı etkileyicilerin veya taklitçilerin kullanılmasını ve bireylerin manipüle edilmesini içerir. Astroturfing genellikle kamuoyunu manipüle etmek ve kuruluşların veya bireylerin çıkarlarını desteklemek için kullanılır ve siyaset, iş dünyası ve sosyal medya dahil olmak üzere çeşitli bağlamlarda ortaya çıkabilir. Dezenformasyon yayabildiği, tüketici davranışlarını manipüle edebildiği ve demokratik kurumlara ve piyasaya olan güveni sarsabildiği için astroturfing’in olumsuz etkileri önemli arz etmektedir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, astroturfing ve sonuçlarına ilişkin kapsamlı bir genel bakış sağlamak ve bunun alabileceği çeşitli biçimleri ve tespit edilip karşı konulabileceği yolları anlamaya odaklanmaktır. Çalışma, astroturfing ile ilgili literatür taraması kullanılarak gerçekleştirilmiştir.Literatür taraması, astroturfing’in belirli bir gündem ya da ürün için tabanda yaygın bir destek olduğuna dair yanlış bir izlenim oluşturmayı içeren kötü niyetli ve aldatıcı bir yöntem olduğunu ortaya koymuştur. Siyaset, iş dünyası ve sosyal medya da dahil olmak üzere çeşitli bağlamlarda ortaya çıkabilir ve sahte çevrimiçi kimlikler, ücretli influencer’lar veya belirli bir mesajı yaymak için mevcut hesapların manipülasyonu şeklinde görülebilir. Astroturfing’in olumsuz etkileri oldukça geniş kapsamlıdır. Demokratik kurumlara ve ilgili pazara olan güveni sarsabilir. Çalışma, olumsuz etkilerini azaltmak için astroturfing’i tanımlamanın ve ele almanın önemli olduğu sonucuna varmıştır. Literatürde astroturfing ile mücadele için medya okuryazarlığı eğitimi, çevrimiçi platform politikaları ve yasal yollar da dahil olmak üzere çeşitli potansiyel çözümler ortaya çıkmıştır. Astroturfing’i ortaya çıkarmak ve bununla mücadele etmek için harekete geçerek, siyaset ve iş dünyası da dahil olmak üzere çeşitli bağlamlarda şeffaflığı, dürüstlüğü ve güveni teşvik etmek mümkündür. Bu çalışma, astroturfing konusunun daha iyi anlaşılmasına ve bu konuda harekete geçmenin önemine katkıda bulunmaktadır.
This chapter draws on the history of approaches to social movement mobilisation and communicative tactics in disseminating movement arguments. It grounds this discussion in the era of digital media and explores the concomitant rise of online political participation and activism. Through an exploration of the linguistic instruments used in elections by institutional political actors, the chapter highlights an overlap between the electoral campaigning techniques used in formal politics and movement communication. The chapter illustrates that, in much the same way as traditional electoral campaigning, movement-voter interaction conveys its message in a way that aims to persuade voters and can also seek to highlight the weaknesses of their opponent or promote recognition of an issue.
This article develops a framework to analyze how political actors adopt social media in systems characterized by clientelism and populism, tracing the consequences and disruptive capabilities of the forms of social media adoption. The framework proceeds in two analytical stages. The first locates actors’ structural positions in the political system (internal/external) and their relationship with the mainstream media (allied/antagonistic). The second builds on pragmatism focusing on iterative problem situations actors face that explain forms of social media adoption. In examining the structural positions and problem-solving stages of Colombian political actors, this article articulates three paths of adoption: habit preservation, internal innovation, and external innovation. Preservationists understand the new technology in old terms, projecting their understandings of old media onto the new one. Internal innovators combine clientelist practices and communication ones, upholding core routines while integrating new ones; they show a potential to reshape the system internally, making viable part of it, but changing the balance of power between existing elites. External innovators develop practices that integrate physical spaces and online communication, displaying a disruptive potential for existing core practices and the political system. In this way, the framework and empirical case link and develop the literatures on clientelism and political communication.
In the last few decades American democracy has undergone a severe decline in the viability of one of its core elements: political participation. As a result, voter turnout has been steadily decreasing since the 1960 presidential election. However, new information technologies like electronic mail have the potential to reinvigorate the electorate by creating a medium in which the political discourse in this country can be made more personal and effective. This largely theoretical article examines methods by which electronic mail can be used to overcome the crisis that presently plagues the American democratic system.
This essay begins by arguing that candidate webpages will become increasing important as a campaign communication medium. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of webpages for both candidates and voters. Then we develop a set of design criteria for evaluating candidate webpages. Using webpages downloaded in March and May of 1999, we placed candidate webpages into four groups, based on our criteria. The worst webpages were from Bush and Smith. The second lowest group included Bauer, Buchanan, Kasich, and Keyes (later, Keyes 1 webpage was completely redesigned and would have ranked much higher had we assessed the later version). The second best group included Bradley, Dole, Forbes, McCain, and Quayle. Finally, we judged the webpages of Alexander and Gore to be the best, according to our criteria.
Comment se forme l'opinion publique ? La communication interpersonnelle et plus precisement la conversation privee, vehicule les informations d'ordre individuel, qui se transforment ensuite en opinions generalisees. A travers l'exemple de PeaceNet, un reseau informatique international, la discussion politique des utilisateurs est exploitee comme illustration de la formation de l'opinion. Cette forme de communication presente a la fois une qualite d'informations et des caracteristiques des utilisateurs et se differencie donc des autres reseaux utilises pour la discussion politique. Cette etude a pour but de confirmer les travaux de G. Tarde (1969) sur le role preponderant de la discussion dans le processus de formation de l'opinion publique
Students of American political development portray the transformation of the bureaucracy from patronage to service as the handiwork of progressive presidents. In this article we explore Congress' programmatic contribution to the transformation of the bureaucracy. Specifically, we examine the development of rural free delivery (RFD) during the 1890's. The early administrative history of RFD and a statistical analysis of initial route allocations identify a strong partisan and electoral rationale for the Republican Congress's decision to dismantle patronage Fourth class post offices and replace them with RFD routes. Freshmen Republican members who faced difficult campaigns in 1900 were the most successful in gathering routes while their Democratic counterparts were the least so. We conclude that the emergence of careerist congressmen looking for opportunities to serve constituents provided an important impetus in the historic reorientation of national policy from patronage to service.
This study examines the news releases that were posted on the official campaign Web sites of George W. Bush and Al Gore during the 2000 presidential campaign. Analysis of each of the 487 news releases posted during the campaign season reveals that nearly three-quarters of these contained an attack on the opponent. This parallels data on the incidence of attacks appearing in televised political advertising during the 2000 campaign. The study provides support for the Political Competition Model, which posits that close races produce significant negativity. Furthermore, the study offers insights on how presidential political campaigns may use campaign Web sites in the future.
The 1992 presidential race saw the candidates, in particular Bill Clinton and Ross Perot, use unorthodox means of reaching and reading the electorate. Not only did they give a high profile to "800" numbers, but the candidates also went hunting for votes through nontradi- tional forums such as Lanky King Live and call-ins on other shows, Arsenio, and M7V news and specials. This article examines what these "soft" formats did to the political discourse and what the discourse did to the formats.
This study examines the discussion of women's issues on the Weh pages of all major-party candidates for the U.S. Senate in 1996. Although the amount of discussion of women's issues is low, the amount does represent a modest increase over that historically contained in TV ads. Candidates of both parties are inclined to discuss abortion on their home pages-typically articulating clear-cut positions. Discussion of women's issues other than abortion is characterized by low specificity and is undertaken almost entirely by Democratic candidates. We conclude that Internet technology introduces new factors into campaigning which can increase the incentives for the discussion of women's issues by candidates.
This article assesses the nature and extent of negative advertising on the Internet in the 1996 U .S. Senate races. As a benchmark for comparison, the use of negative campaigning in other media is outlined. In the aggregate, the Internet is a medium disproportionately characterized by positive campaigning. On the other hand, the candidates with negative campaigning used it a lot. In exploring the rhetoric of negative campaigning, a theoretical distinction between superficially comparative and engagingly comparative is offered and applied to 1996 campaign sites. T he negative campaigning that does occur on the Internet is largely comparative but still falls short of engaged campaign rhetoric.
This article presents a content analysis of three computer‐mediated communication (CMC) networks used for political discussion during the 1992 Presidential election campaign. Data indicate that the main use of computer networks in the campaign was to assert personal opinions about the candidates, issues, and the election. Other uses were talking about one's own life and experiences, telling others what they should be doing, and posting information for others to read. Significant differences were found between the three campaigns for uses of these computer networks. The Clinton network was used more than the other two for posting information. The Perot network was used more than the others for asserting opinions. This study indicates that voters have specific functions for the use of computer networks as new channels of political communication. Future research should examine what groups of voters use these networks the most and how such use affects candidate image formation. Suggestions are offered for the study of campaign computer lists in the upcoming presidential election of 1996.
By “constructing an alternative public realm,” two computer communication projects—one devoted to pace issues, the other to making U.S. government information more broadly available—demonstrate the potential of new technology for grass-roots political movements.
The phenomenon of obedience is usually considered on an individual level, although typically acts of obedience are committed by an individual who is acting within an organizational framework. This paper discusses how the structure and function of the hierarchical organization alters the perspective by which individuals view their actions, and changes an individual's perception of his or her role and responsibility. Organizational dehumanization and act fragmentation and their function in the facilitation of evil acts are considered.
The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993 required all states to establish "motor voter," mail-in and agency registration procedures prior to the 1996 Presidential election. Using state-level data for the 1976-94 period on party registration, we analyze the party registration impacts of state programs that were precursors to the NVRA. "Active" motor voter programs roughly similar to those mandated by the NVRA are found to significantly increase the proportion of registrants on the rolls who are unaffiliated with either major party. Mail-in registration shows no impact on party registration, while agency registration significantly increases the Democratic share of the two-party registration total -- despite the fact that most agency programs in our sample period were far weaker than NVRA mandates.