When
Mark Zuckerberg was asked if Facebook had influenced the outcome of
the 2016 presidential election, the founder and CEO dismissed the
notion that the site even had such power as “crazy.” It was a
disingenuous remark. Facebook’s website had an entire section
devoted to touting the “success stories” of political campaigns
that used the social network to influence electoral outcomes. That
page, however, is now gone, even as the 2018 congressional primaries
get underway.
In the
wake of a public reckoning with Facebook’s unparalleled ability to
distribute information and global anxiety over election meddling,
bragging about the company’s ability to run highly effective
influence campaigns probably doesn’t look so great.
Facebook’s
“success stories” page is a monument to the company’s dominance
of online advertising, providing examples from almost every
imaginable industry of how use of the social network gave certain
players an advantage. “Case studies like these inspire and
motivate us,” the page crows. Current examples include
CoverGirl (“promoting a beauty brand makeover with video ads on
Facebook and Instagram”) and Tropicana (“Facebook video
ads elevate fruit juice brand awareness”). Not so
controversial.
The case
studies that Facebook used to list from political campaigns, however,
included more interesting claims. Facebook’s work with Florida’s
Republican Gov. Rick Scott “used link ads and video ads to boost
Hispanic voter turnout in their candidate’s successful bid for a
second term, resulting in a 22% increase in Hispanic support and the
majority of the Cuban vote.” Facebook’s work with the
Scottish National Party, a political party in the U.K., was described
as “triggering a landslide.”
Full
report:
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