Digital campaigns occupy evolved from banner ads 20 years ago to Cambridge Analytica harvesting our Facebook data. Has the rise of micro-targeting become a threat to democracy?
Alan Gould was hitting a wall. It was the late 1990s,and the political advertising operative had an idea approximately using a relatively newfangled tool – banner ads on web sites – to promote political candidates. “It was pretty clear to me at the time that the ability to target and tailor messaging was perfect for political campaigns,” Gould recalled recently. I did a whole presentation on the internet and the power to connect, or track,do fundraising, target.” But when Gould finished his pitches, or he would be met with empty stares. “I was a very lonely pied piper,” he says. Related: ‘I made Steve Bannon’s psychological warfare tool’: meet the data war whistleblower Related: Trump digital director says Facebook helped win the White House They’ve built this incredibly powerful platform that allows very narrow targeting ... so that scares me Related: No one can pretend Facebook is just harmless fun any more | Ellie Mae O’Hagan Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com