Pew Research Center mined data from its survey of 2,548 U.S. adult Twitter users in May 2021 about their experiences on the social network, as well as how they engage with politics outside of Twitter, and it shared five key facts. Computational social scientists Samuel Bestvater and Sono Shah explained in the report’s introduction, “In…
Political content being prevalent on Twitter probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise, but the extent to which it is prevalent might. A recent study by Pew Research Center found that one-third of tweets from adults in the U.S. are political in nature. The think tank arrived at its findings via a May 2021…
Meta detailed updates Monday related to its transparency tools for social issue, electoral and political ads, which will apply to all countries where the company’s ad authorizations and disclaimer tools are in place. Detailed targeting information for social issue, electoral and political ads will be made available to vetted academic researchers at the end of…
Meta updated its location targeting options to reflect the redrawn congressional districts in the U.S. that resulted from the 2020 Census. Neil Shrimanker of Meta’s business integrity and elections integrity team explained in a blog post that all updated congressional districts will be reflected across all of Meta’s ads interfaces, including the Ads API (application-programming…
While a healthy chunk of adults in the U.S. still believe there should be more government regulation of major technology platforms, those numbers are dropping, while the reverse is true for those who want to see less government regulation, according to a new study from Pew Research Center. Research associate Emily A. Vogels wrote in…
Discussion about politics and breaking political news have become cornerstones of how Twitter is used over the years, but the biography information people include in their profiles on the social network rarely reflects that, according to a new study from Pew Research Center. The think tank’s analysis of the Twitter handles of 1,021 survey respondents…
You hear them loudly this time of year. They yell at you. They sling mud. They annoy. And many of them turn people off. They’re political ads, and they’re difficult to ignore. But a relatively new agency is trying to change how people think about political advertising, adding doses of performance and theatrics gleaned from…
Between growing public health concerns, the onslaught of anti-trans and queerphobic legislations and an international war, let’s face it: there’s a lot for concerned citizens to worry about these days. With each pressing social issue, we’re urged to hop on the phone with our local and state politicians. Unfortunately, it can be incredibly difficult to…
In the last 12 hours, EU officials have agreed on two landmark rules: the Digital Markets Act and the revival of the transatlantic deal with the U.S. Thursday night, EU negotiators from the European Parliament and the Council finished legislation that aims to rein in the global digital market dominance by the world’s largest tech…
The U.K. government announced additional amendments to the scope of the Online Safety Bill this week, this time drawing measures to protect people from advertising scams. Top line The bill mandates that social media companies including Instagram, Facebook and Twitter–as well as search engines like Google–protect people from both prepaid fraudulent ads and user-generated scams….
It was a mixed Presidents’ Day weekend debut for Truth Social, the new social platform from former President Donald Trump. While the application soared to the top spot among free apps on Apple’s App Store (it is not yet available for Android), the process was littered with roadblocks to entry including error messages and placing…
According to the Dove 2021 CROWN Research Study for Girls, 53% of Black mothers in the U.S. who have daughters who have experienced hair discrimination endured it as early as five years old. The same study suggests that approximately 86% of Black teens who have experienced it did so by the age of twelve. In…
LinkedIn is testing a feature that will allow users to stop seeing political content in their feed, The Wall Street Journal reported. Our guide will show you how to check whether you have this feature available and, if so, how to activate it. Note: These screenshots were captured in the LinkedIn application on iOS. Step…
To support the Lebanese election taking place, daily newspaper AnNahar chose not to print one issue for the first time in its 88-year history, donating its paper and ink to print ballots instead. With the election scheduled for May 15, government officials have begun to highlight a lack of supplies which could have threatened Lebanon’s…
Prominent members of the U.S. Congress–from Democrats Chuck Schumer and Cory Booker to Republicans Nancy Mace and David Joyce–are vocal supporters of the cannabis industry. And some lawmakers–Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman, for one–have made broader cannabis legalization a central focus of their platforms. But Gary Chambers Jr., an ordained minister running for state senate in Louisiana,…
After the pandemic forced Protocol to lay off nearly one-third of its workforce just two months into operations, its reporting at the intersection of technology and policy has since proven fruitful. The advertising-supported publisher saw its 2021 revenue grow 150% from its 2020 figures, though it declined to share specific numbers. Protocol plans to add…
Meta detailed some changes to the process advertisers must go through in certain cases when they are looking to run ads about social issues, elections or politics. The company said in a blog post that advertisers will no longer be required to complete the authorization process for these types of ads or include “paid for…
Despite a constant stream of rhetoric asserting otherwise, a new study conducted by Twitter found that right-leaning news outlets see greater algorithmic amplification on its platform compared with left-leaning news outlets, and tweets posted by accounts from the political right receive more algorithmic amplification than the political left when studied as a group. The social…
Former President Donald Trump is trying to get back into the social media game again, this time with Truth Social, an application set to debut in beta for “invited guests” next month. Information about the app and other initiatives were shared within the details of a definitive merger agreement between Trump Media & Technology Group…
Facebook expanded its test of reducing distribution of political content in News Feed to roughly 75 countries around the globe Wednesday. The test kicked off with “a small percentage” of people in Brazil, Canada and Indonesia in February, with the U.S. added shortly thereafter. Facebook expanded the test to Costa Rica, Ireland, Spain and Sweden…
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