FabSwingers.com forum: How social media influences political decision making

By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

Your social media account is doing more than connecting you to your friends....

All political parties have a social media unit. It’s now the best way of sending out their parties message, unfiltered and unverified.

Many of you have probably seen an advert slagging off or supporting your party of choice.

Due to the way your social media account works subtle psychological tricks are employed to make you consume more and more information.

Put it this way, screen time on their platform equals money on their side.

The political social media team uses this to its advantage. By generating targeted content it creates an environment ripe for disinformation, as users are compelled to continue to continue consuming more and more information. This is more effective on non committed or undecided voters, as these ads can be localised to appeal to their anxieties.

Therefore the user experiences an echo chamber effect, it then pushes them to find more information, because the search is not constrained it can move the user to places on the internet which are an outlet to their anxieties.

Once found, their newfound position becomes validated. This results in another effect called fueling. Where the user is exposed to more and more unsettling content, this is where the breakpoint happens.

This occurs in two outcomes either the pent up anxiety is released destructively, or the anxiety is satiated and then the user is able to channel their anxieties into legitimate actions e.g. voting

In the end the user has been fully manipulated into providing those political forces the requisite support to their arguments, even if they did not believe them in the first place.

So when you look at the latest targeted ad, think where it can lead you.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

All the reasons you have listed are exactly why I dnt use it

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"Your social media account is doing more than connecting you to your friends....

All political parties have a social media unit. It’s now the best way of sending out their parties message, unfiltered and unverified.

Many of you have probably seen an advert slagging off or supporting your party of choice.

Due to the way your social media account works subtle psychological tricks are employed to make you consume more and more information.

Put it this way, screen time on their platform equals money on their side.

This occurs in two outcomes either the pent up anxiety is released destructively, or the anxiety is satiated and then the user is able to channel their anxieties into legitimate actions e.g. voting

In the end the user has been fully manipulated into providing those political forces the requisite support to their arguments, even if they did not believe them in the first place.

So when you look at the latest targeted ad, think where it can lead you. "

Does ANYONE click on any Ads on social media.....

I pitty them if they do

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By *ostafunMan
over a year ago

near ipswich

The whole of the internet is spying on you.i dont do facebook,twitter,linkedin etc but know if search something on my pc a few hours later google will put some news story on something related to it on my mobile and ask would i like more like this.We are all being targeted the moment we use the web.This could have something to do with why everyone is so polarized on every subject these days as we are all being drip fed stuff to re confirm our beliefs instead of getting a balanced view of things.

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By *lex46TV/TS
over a year ago

Near Wells

I do use Facebook but over the last few days I'm spending less and less time on it.

The political ads are peeing me right of so I'm not bothering to look anymore.

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By *ary_ArgyllMan
over a year ago

Argyll

I wonder if Facebook will be as effective this time, after Cambridge Analytica I'd suspect people are now much more aware that they are being manipulated and that might have a kick-back effect. The interesting thing is the influencers are trying to get to the 'don't knows', its this rather small percentage of the population which swing elections.

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By *candiumWoman
over a year ago

oban

Don't think I've ever seen a political ad on social media. I seem to just get ads for irrelevant(to me) products

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Never use the stuff, apart from fab of course! The wife of a friend of mine who is quite a high flyer in education seems to post stuff every few minutes on Facebook and its deathly fucking dull in the extreme. It’s just a bunch of “friends” trying to outdo each other as to whose dog, child, funrun, chelsea tractor, cake sale was the best, most liked, successful, most important etc etc. Its all wanky old crap and makes people insecure and egotistical and creates gangs/cliques like you got at school with a similar opportunity for group delusions and bullying.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"Never use the stuff, apart from fab of course! The wife of a friend of mine who is quite a high flyer in education seems to post stuff every few minutes on Facebook and its deathly fucking dull in the extreme. It’s just a bunch of “friends” trying to outdo each other as to whose dog, child, funrun, chelsea tractor, cake sale was the best, most liked, successful, most important etc etc. Its all wanky old crap and makes people insecure and egotistical and creates gangs/cliques like you got at school with a similar opportunity for group delusions and bullying. "

Very true

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