Jakub Szymik, Founder of CEE Digital Democracy Watch , discusses the EU's ongoing initiatives to fight disinformation, regulate political advertising, and protect election integrity on social media. Jakub shares his insights on the Digital Services Act, the European Democracy Shield, and how these initiatives relate to digital political advertising on social media. We also discuss the latest Polish Presidential elections in terms of digital ad spending, Gen AI content, and political influencers....
Jun 22, 2025•37 min•Ep. 185
Dan Brahmy, Co-Founder and CEO at Cyabra , discusses the cutting-edge in disinformation monitoring. Dan shares some of Cyabra's work around the new pope, the tariff war, and narratives following the Trump assassination attempt. We discuss how monitoring works technically, what type of attributes are used to classify accounts as inauthentic, and how source attribution can be identified through patterns. Special thanks to Jill Burkes, PR and Communications lead at Cyabra, for setting up and contri...
May 25, 2025•38 min•Ep. 184
Dr. Neta Kligler-Vilenchik and Dr. Ioana Literat share research from their new book Not Your Parent's Politics: Understanding Young People's Political Expression on Social Media . We discuss how young people use social media such as TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube to experiment with their political identity, even if they are too young to vote. Examples from the 2016 US election, Black Lives Matter protests, and climate anxiety help illustrate the various ways that youth express their political op...
Apr 20, 2025•49 min•Ep. 183
Neil Brown , President of the Poytner Institute for Media Studies, discusses the challenges facing journalism. We discuss the concept of media trust, changing revenue models, and the challenges for journalism posed by digital fragmentation. Neil also shares his thoughts on fact-checking and Politifact.com , and we end with a discussion of AI's implications for journalism.
Apr 06, 2025•49 min•Ep. 182
Dr. Michael D. Cohen , CEO of Cohen Research Group and author of Modern Political Campaigns , shares how artificial intelligence is impacting political campaigns. We discuss how AI is like an automated staffer, and what types of human involvement is still needed to craft a winning strategy. We also examine AI's role in generating copy like social media posts and speeches, as well as how it can be used for qualitative data analysis such as focus groups. In addition, we consider how AI relates to ...
Mar 23, 2025•42 min•Ep. 181
Doug Kaplan, President of Kaplan Strategies , discusses the utility of political polling for local, state, and national races. We discuss the value of polls when partisanship is high, the changing political communication landscape, and Florida as a Republican stronghold (for now).
Mar 02, 2025•29 min•Ep. 180
Dr. Johan Farkas and Dr. Marcus Maloney discuss how the language used to describe digital media frames our understanding and the actions of policymakers. We break down how terms like "toxic", "trolls", and "filter bubbles" are often used uncritically and limit how we understand the relationships between digital media and social problems like misogyny, racism, and harassment. Here's a link to the book discussed in the episode: Digital Media Metaphors: A Critical Introduction (2024)...
Jan 05, 2025•44 min•Ep. 179
The 9th Annual Social Media and Politics Year in Review! This year, we cover the platforms’ year in review reports, election interference in Romania, the battle over text and the "eXodus", and social media bans for teenagers. Here are links to resources discussed in the episode, and see you in 2025! Platform Reports: Meta TikTok Snap Pinterest Twitch Google Pornhub...
Dec 20, 2024•1 hr 49 min•Ep. 178
Ryan Davis, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer at People First , guests for a debrief on content creators in the 2024 US election. We discuss content creator strategies between the two parties, how influencers have become professionalized, and what this means for communications and elections going forward. Advertising, authenticity, and power flows are constantly in flux in this environment, and the very conceptions of old and new media are being challenged. A space to watch! Check out Peopl...
Dec 14, 2024•44 min•Ep. 177
Professor Daniel C. Hallin , Distinguished Professor of Communication at UC San Diego, shares his thoughts on media systems and how digital media relates to the concept. We discuss the components of a 'system' and current debates around the concept of 'hybridity' in media studies. This leads to a broader discussion of conceptual stretching, media capture, and how single case studies can be made comparative through dialogue with existing scholarship. The recording took place while Prof. Hallin wa...
Sep 15, 2024•38 min•Ep. 176
Kindred Motes, Founder and Managing Partner at KM Strategies Group (KMSG) , shares his advocacy work to counter the online reach of Project 2025. Working with the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, KMSG launched a paid campaign on Google Search before Project 2025 became mainstream. Kindred shares how TikTok played a role in catalyzing Project 2025 as a political issue, as well as some of the challenges that nonprofits face in running digital ad campaigns. We also discuss the benefits an...
Sep 01, 2024•37 min•Ep. 175
Prof. Sebastian Stier , Scientific Director of Computational Social Science at GESIS and Professor of CSS at the University of Mannheim, discusses how web tracking data can inform social science questions. We discuss the data structure of web browsing data, how it is collected, and the types of incentives used to recruit participants. Prof. Stier also shares his insights and research integrating web browsing data with survey data, as well as how LLMs are opening up new methodological avenues in ...
May 05, 2024•37 min•Ep. 174
Ryan Davis, Co-Founder of People First , discusses how "micro-influencers" or "micro-creators" are being used in political campaigns. We discuss the benefits of using micro-influencers for engagement, as well as how they can be used to target specific blocks of voters. Ryan also shares how these creators can inform the political strategy of campaigns through panels and focus groups, and how the comments to creators' content can reveal themes and sentiments important for the campaign. Here's a li...
Apr 21, 2024•40 min•Ep. 173
Dr. Eviane Leidig , Marie Curie postdoctoral fellow at Tilburg University, discusses her book " The Women of the Far Right: Social Media Influencers and Online Radicalization ." We break down the role of social media for the alt-right movement, and how platforms like Instagram and YouTube work to mainstream extremist views. These insights come from Dr. Leidig's research conducting digital ethnography on women influencers prominent on the American Right....
Apr 07, 2024•44 min•Ep. 172
Rhiannon Ruff , Wikipedia Expert and Founding Partner at Lumino , discusses how politicians and brands can effectively manage their Wikipedia presence. We discuss why Wikipedia is important for Google Search and AI like ChatGPT, and how the tone, norms, and editors of Wikipedia make editing your own page difficult. Rhi shares her tips on how to manage a Wikipedia page in the right way, and why that's crucial for politicians and political parties. Here's a list of links discussed in the episode: ...
Mar 24, 2024•48 min•Ep. 171
Dr. Rob Eschmann , Associate Professor of Social Work at Columbia University, discusses his latest book When the Hood Comes Off: Racism and Resistance in the Digital Age (University of California Press). We cover how social media works to unmask everyday experiences of racism, and how this affects student life at American universities. Dr. Eschmann also shares his research on social media, racial microaggressions, and Black Twitter; thoughts on TikTok and algorithmic bias; and how resisting raci...
Feb 25, 2024•40 min•Ep. 170
Prof. Kate Dommett , Professor of Digital Politics at the University of Sheffield, and Dr. Simon Kruschinski , Postdoctoral Researcher in Communication at the University of Mainz, discuss their new book: Data-Driven Campaigning and Political Parties. We discuss the book's theoretical framework on how system-level, regulatory-level, and party-level factors explain variation in data-driven campaigning across five democracies: the US, UK, Canada, Germany, and Australia. Prof. Dommett and Dr. Krusch...
Feb 11, 2024•50 min•Ep. 169
Dr. Andrew W. MacDonald , Assistant Professor of Social Science at Duke Kunshan University, shares research from his new book Directed Digital Dissidence in Autocracies: How China Wins Online . We discuss the Chinese digital and social media context, citizens' perceptions of online propaganda, and how the state manipulates digital information to further its political interests. We also discuss survey methodology, how citizens circumvent the Great Firewall, and what affect using the internet and ...
Jan 28, 2024•45 min•Ep. 168
The 8th Annual Social Media and Politics Year in Review! This year, we cover the platforms' year in review reports, AI for political communication, the creator economy, and EU concerns around disinformation and cyberattacks. Here are links to resources discussed in the episode, and see you in 2024! Platform Reports: Meta Instagram TikTok Reddit Pinterest Snap Twitch Google YouTube Pornhub Insights Jimmie Åkesson's Arabic Deepfake...
Dec 23, 2023•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 167
Dr. Jennifer Forestal , Assistant Professor of Political Science at Loyola University Chicago, discusses how digital platforms can be approached from an architectural perspective. Dr. Forestal shares insights from her latest book, Designing for Democracy , where she evaluates digital platforms' democratic potential from the lens of political theory. The episode breaks down a framework for how to assess the democratic quality of social media platforms by examining their degrees of boundaries, dur...
Oct 22, 2023•41 min•Ep. 166
Dr. Mia-Marie Hammarlin , Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication at Lund University, shares her research on vaccine hesitancy in Sweden. We discuss the major themes of coronavirus vaccine skepticism on the Swedish online forum Flashback , as well as Dr. Hammarlin's ethnographic research meeting with vaccine hesitant communities. Here are links to Dr. Hammarlin's research mentioned in the episode: COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: A Mixed Methods Investigation of Matters of Life and Death (2023) I ...
Oct 08, 2023•46 min•Ep. 165
Dr. Alexander Coppock , Associate Professor of Political Science at Yale University, shares his research on measuring the political effects of persuasive information. We discuss how political persuasion affects voters holding different viewpoints, the durability of these effects over time, and how much political ads seem to affect voters' political attitudes. Here are Dr. Coppock's research studies discussed in the episode: Persuasion in Parallel: How Information Changes Minds about Politics (20...
Sep 24, 2023•42 min•Ep. 164
Dr. Anamaria Dutceac Segesten , Associate Professor in Strategic Communication at Lund University, joins a discussion of cross-cutting expression and its implications for digital campaigning on Facebook. On the theory side, we discuss concepts of online self-expression and cross-pressures. We also discuss how political ideology can be inferred from Facebook reactions such as 'likes' and 'loves'. Finally, we discuss what topic models of the Brexit debate around Facebook can reveal about how and w...
Sep 03, 2023•58 min•Ep. 163
Prof. Ulrike Klinger , Professor for Digital Democracy at the European New School for Digital Studies at European University Viadrina, shares her latest research on negative campaigning on social media. We discuss some of the challenges in studying digital communication in the EU, as well as what explains a rise in negative campaigning across two European Parliament elections. Prof. Klinger also shares her research on the UN Global Compact for Migration, where extremist ideas from the Identitari...
Jul 02, 2023•49 min•Ep. 162
Zach Fang , Head of Sales and Business Development at Vocal Media , shares how the start-up is building a database of social media influencers to connect with political campaigns and organizations. We discuss what makes TikTok influencers a different type of political advertising and how their costs stack up to traditional broadcast and social media. Zach also shares what's happening with influencers on Twitch, Discord, and YouTube shorts, and how influencers may turn from awareness raising to o...
Jun 18, 2023•29 min•Ep. 161
Russell Mindich , political consultant and author of the 2022 Political Tech Landscape Report , shares his insights on the role of social media in political campaigning. We discuss social media influencers and how campaigns are connecting to them on TikTok, the move towards politicla advertising on streaming services, and the potential uses of ChatGPT and other generative AI for politics. Here's a link to the Analyst Institute , mentioned in the episode....
May 21, 2023•28 min•Ep. 160
Jenny Reich, Fellow at the Georgetown Law Center on National Security, discusses the Center's recent report entitled Social Media: The Canary in the Coal Mine . We dive into the potential security risks posed by digital technology developments as well as the report's recommendations for addressing them at the levels of government, the tech industry, and civil society. The report brings together various stakeholders to shed insight on the core democratic values of the United States, the major thr...
Mar 19, 2023•34 min•Ep. 159
Adam Kovacevich, Founder and CEO of Chamber of Progress , shares his trade association's goals for progressive advocacy in the tech sector. We discuss the politicization of 'Big Tech' and recent opinion polls about Midterm voters' attitudes towards tech regulation. We also discuss how First Amendment rights apply to tech companies, misperceptions of the techlash, and partisan differences in moderating misinformation and free speech. Extra Links: President Biden's op-ed in WSJ Adam's presentation...
Feb 05, 2023•39 min•Ep. 158
Prof. Sanne Kruikemeier , Professor of Digital Media and Society at Wageningen University & Research, discusses her latest research on political targeting. We discuss how political targeting differs in EU and US contexts, how perceptions of targeting affect voters' democratic perceptions, and what types of issues parties strategically communicate during election campaigns. Here are the studies discussed in the episode: Data-driven campaigning and democratic disruption: Evidence from six adva...
Jan 22, 2023•36 min•Ep. 157
Megan Clasen, Partner at Gambit Strategies , shares her insights into digital political advertising for persuasion and mobilization. We discuss the role of social media ads relative to CTV and OTT advertising, as well as how political ads compete with corporate brands for inventory on these services. Megan also shares her experiences with Facebook's ad 'blackout' period during the 2020 campaign and how the Biden campaign responded to countering Trump's advertisements. ...And much more!...
Jan 08, 2023•52 min•Ep. 156
