Fifty-one good stories about digital politics and advocacy.
- Biden spends $1.4 million on digital ads in less than 2 weeks. Covers Google, Facebook and Twitter, and has a good comparison chart. C.f Billionaire digital ad wars, which includes Trump outside spending by people like Steyer and Bloomberg, and Joe Biden dominates digital ad spending after entering 2020 race.
- Joe Biden’s Big 2020 Advantage: He Has the Obama Email List. Here’s the trick: how much will a list built years ago for a different candidate help him?
- Ouch: A parody website with embarrassing photos of Joe Biden is outranking his official campaign page on Google. Via Laura Packard.
- Stock Images of Beautiful Women and Border Wall Propaganda: The Trump Campaign’s Facebook Ad Strategy. Brilliant, chaotic or both?
- 2020 Democrats are focusing on Trump-centric topics in online ads.
- Americans mimic Russian disinformation tactics ahead of 2020.
- Bad Boys Nunes, King, and Hunter Dominate House GOP Small-Dollar Fundraising. “It seems that rank-and-file GOP activists have a refined taste for attack-dog conspiracy theorists like Nunes, racists like King, and corruption suspects like Hunter.”
- A group raised over $20 million to ‘build the wall.’ Now its supporters want answers. Crowdfunding meets accountability.
- Is the Chase for Small-Dollar Donors a Problem for 2020 Democrats?
- DNC pledges not to use hacked materials, presses RNC to do the same.
- How Black Feminists Exposed the Alt-Right Online.
- The Terrifying Potential of the 5G Network. “Paired with facial recognition and artificial intelligence, the data streams and location capabilities of 5G will make anonymity a historical artifact.” Plus, highly hackable.
- The DCCC’s Plan to Punish Democrats for Backing Primary Challengers Is Sparking Major Backlash. C.f. The Democratic Party Just Ticked Off Its Youngest Organizers.
- Hate-Filled Letter Posted Online Claims to Be From Synagogue Shooting Suspect. C.f. Ancient hatreds, modern methods: How social media and political division feed attacks on sacred spaces .
- Instagram and Facebook Ban Far-Right Extremists, but Trump Attacks Facebook on Behalf of Racists and Grifters.
- Inside Facebook, the second-class workers who do the hardest job are waging a quiet battle. “U.S. contractors are behind a campaign to air grievances about unsatisfactory working conditions and inadequate counseling.”
- How building data protection regimes can counter disinformation. C.f. These bogus quotes just won’t die on Facebook.
- Digital Consultants Confront New Challenges as Facebook Unveils More Changes.
- Game Changer: Human-Centered Design for Democracy.
- Microsoft Unveils Low-Cost Cybersecurity Service as FEC Ruling Looms.
- Digital Ad Fraud is Dropping, But Campaigns Should Remain Vigilant.
- Salesforce.com buys Salesforce.org, and that’s the only straightforward part.
- Building Tech for Progressive Power, Not Profit. Action Network responds to EveryAction’s Action Kit purchase. We’re all about the action, kids!
- How Care2’s Campaign to #EndGunViolence Engaged Millions and Drove Real Change.
- Sizing Up Twitter Users. “U.S. adult Twitter users are younger and more likely to be Democrats than the general public. Most users rarely tweet, but the most prolific 10% create 80% of tweets from adult U.S. users.” C.f. Twitter Is Not America.
- The Problem With Social-Media Protests. “Online movements can burn out faster than campaigns that spend months or even years forging in-person connections.” Which is why best-practice is to combine the two approaches when possible.
- OpenAI Wants To Make Ultrapowerful AI. But Not In A Bad Way. AI employed with heart?
- The Cybersecurity 202: A cyberattack just disrupted grid operations in the U.S. But it could have been far worse. Nothing to worry about, kids — just the power and water.
- Did he just harass you or are you imagining it? You might be a victim of ‘crasslighting.’.
- ‘Make Sh*t Up’: Inside Jacob Wohl’s Bonkers Investment Plan. “The bumbling political operative pitched investors on a scheme to use fake news stories to manipulate political betting markets for profit.”
- After Mueller report, Twitter bots pushed ‘Russiagate hoax’ narrative.
- 6 Ways To Improve Your Campaign’s Smartphone Video.
- 6 Reasons SEO Is Important to Nonprofits and Why.
- 5 Questions To Ask Your P2P Vendor.
- All the Different Ways to Calculate Engagement Rate.
- Essential Elements in the Chemistry of Compelling Email.
- How Technology Can Help Groups Avoid a Fly-In Nightmare.
- ‘There was no attempted coup’: FBI’s former top lawyer defends Russia probe. Interesting: a sign that a podcast is just as much a part of “the media” as any other credible outlet.
- And finally, Mitch McConnell wants to raise money off the nickname ‘Cocaine Mitch.’ Yes, really. Online t-shirt sales!
Too much is never enough? Check out previous Quick Hits editions.
– cpd