The State Of Political Tech On The Left

Campaigns

America is unprepared for the 2024 political internet
FWIWNewsletter.Substack.com
“I decided to write all this because I’m not sure that many in the political space (many of whom are still somehow reliant on television advertising) have given enough thought to the impacts of these major technological changes. Even though political campaigns are typically slower to utilize new online platforms and tactics, just a few major instances of abuse of the above platforms and tools could have a major impact on next year’s election.”

Trump is no longer the social media king
Vox.com
“Data from media intelligence firm Zignal Labs shows how discussion of Trump’s arrest paled in comparison to other major news cycles involving the former president. In the 24 hours after each event, people tweeted about Trump almost two times more when he had Covid in 2020, and three and half times more after the January 6 Capitol riot, according to Zignal Labs.”

Marketing

Digital Marketers: It’s Time to Say Goodbye to Best Practices
IMGE.com
“For those marketers who want to take it to the next level, it’s time to stop imitating, and start innovating. Testing shifts our approach from ‘what are others like us doing’ to ‘what engages our audience best.’”

Social Media

White House won't pay for Twitter verification
Axios.com
“Official organizations, such as the White House and some government officials, will continue to be verified with a grey check mark, Twitter said. Some White House officials, like the President and Vice President, will likely continue to be verified with a grey checkmark, but an administration source said it's unclear at this time exactly which officials will retain grey checks.”

Donald Trump was arrested, please like and subscribe
TheVerge.com
“What there was, however, was content. If someone wasn’t streaming, they were holding a microphone in someone else’s face. Outside of the protest, conservative pundits like Benny Johnson and Steve Bannon were hosting their in-studio shows. Their guests applauded the protesters, claiming that the day was a success.”

Members of Congress on TikTok defend app’s reach to voters
APNews.com
“As pressure against TikTok mounts in Washington, the more than two dozen members of Congress — all Democrats — who are active on the social media platform are being pushed by their colleagues to stop using it. Many defend their presence on the platform, saying they have a responsibility as public officials to meet Americans where they are — and more than 150 million are on TikTok.”

Technology

2022 Political Tech Landscape Report
HigherGroundLabs.com
“Still recovering from a pandemic, campaigns and organizations continued to adapt to virtual and in-person techniques that produced historic contact records. Technology played an increasingly important role in supporting coordinated responses to attacks on democracy. The political tech ecosystem has reached a maturation point that brings an increasing need for improvements in data infrastructure and talent management.”

Tools for Technocrats, Not Citizens: Today's Political Tech Industry
TheConnector.Substack.com
“While a professional class of campaign managers, tacticians, analysts, message makers and pollsters will continue to make a lot of money from ever-more sophisticated methods of farming donors and volunteers for money and time, nothing is going to invigorate the base until something beyond the scope of political tech happens: a new generation of empowered leaders committed to a completely different party brand and a different brand of party-building has to come to power.”