Digital footprints removed the survey barrier to identifying persuadable voters

Evidence

Kalla and Broockman argue that these circumstances are unusual because they require a lot of investment and sophistication and most voters do not reply to surveys. But with companies scraping every digital footprint we leave behind on the internet, they no longer need surveys. Organizations can use Face-book likes to understand people’s psychological traits and what their stance on a particular issue might be. They can then invest heavily in identifying subgroups of persuadable voters and micro-target them with tailored advertisements. — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 573

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: PRIZM’s cluster profiles linked consumption habits directly to party voting patterns — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 607; Mass voter profiling was framed as a modern form of military psychological operations — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects…, 500

Broader Connections

• PRIZM’s cluster profiles linked consumption habits directly to party voting patterns #corroborates (0.78) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 607