… The Democrats in Congress took their case against President Trump to the public last week. But after hours of testimony, thousands of news reports and days of streaming headlines, one thing was clear: A lot of Americans weren’t listening. … In this volatile political moment, information, it would seem, […] Read more »
Getting rid of microtargeting in political advertising is a terrible idea
Jack Dorsey, chief executive of Twitter, unleashed a frenzy of commentary when he went Pontius Pilate and effectively washed his hands of the false advertising problem online by announcing his platform would no longer take political ads. But perhaps the most alarming reaction came from Federal Election Commission Chair Ellen […] Read more »
Americans and Privacy: Concerned, Confused and Feeling Lack of Control Over Their Personal Information
A majority of Americans believe their online and offline activities are being tracked and monitored by companies and the government with some regularity. It is such a common condition of modern life that roughly six-in-ten U.S. adults say they do not think it is possible to go through daily life […] Read more »
State of the Facts Poll
Despite fundamental disagreements about which sources of information to trust, Americans overwhelmingly agree on what facts should be: accurate, transparent and based in data, according to a new national poll by USAFacts and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The 2019 State of the Facts Poll examines Americans’ […] Read more »
Trump’s Impeachment and Opinion Formation in the Digital Age
As the impeachment process is speeding forward in a highly polarized Washington D.C., the assumption is that the mass media will exert tremendous political and societal influence on the proceedings. The full impact of the media, however, remains an open question given longstanding political science research as well as the […] Read more »
Close Election in Kentucky Was Ripe for Twitter, and an Omen for 2020
A few hours after polls closed in Kentucky last Tuesday, a Twitter user writing under the handle @Overlordkraken1 posted a message to his 19 followers saying he had “just shredded a box of Republican mail-in ballots.” … Within hours of @Overlordkraken1’s tweet, as it became apparent that Mr. Bevin was […] Read more »