Social media and microtargeting: Political data processing and the consequences for Germany

Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Social Media and Society

et al. 2019

Self Cite

In this work, complex weighted bipartite social networks are developed to efficiently analyze, project and extract network knowledge. Specifically, to assess the overall ease of communication between the different network sub-clusters, a proper projection and measurement method is developed in which the defined measurement is a function of the network structure and preserves maximum relevant information. Using simulations, it is shown how the introduced measurement correlates with the concept of political polarization, after which the proposed method is applied to Facebook networks to demonstrate its ability to capture the polarization dynamics over time. The method successfully captured the increasing political polarization between the Alternative für Deutschland's (AfD) supporters and the supporters of other political parties, which is in line with previous studies on the rise of the AfD in Germany's political sphere. CCS CONCEPTS • Networks → Social media networks; Network simulations; • Human-centered computing → Social network analysis; Social networking sites; • General and reference → Metrics; Estimation;

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring the Ease of Communication in Bipartite Social Endorsement Networks

Shahrezaye

Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Social Media and Society

et al. 2019

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“…In the US, political parties have made this possible by amassing a huge amount of personal data on voters' political affiliations and behavior [10]. Despite having the strictest data privacy regulations, Germany is also a fertile ground for political microtargeting [59]. Apart from political parties, other advertisers also activate ads with political intent.…”

Section: Background 21 Online Advertisingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Political Ad Libraries for Online Advertising Transparency: Lessons from Germany and the 2019 European Elections

International Conference on Social Media and Society

Hegelich

2020

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This study investigates the possibilities and limits presented by the newly created ad libraries from Facebook and Google to analyze online political campaigns. We selected Germany as a case study and focused on the months leading up to the 2019 elections to the European Parliament. We identified the political actors that were active advertisers, compared their spending, and contrasted the number of ad impressions with user engagement on their organic online content. From the political ads, we extracted the unique ads and manually analyzed a subsample of them. Furthermore, we explored regional and demographic distributions of users reached by the advertisements and used them as a proxy for the advertisers' targeting strategies. We also compared the success of the ad campaigns on boosted Facebook posts. We found that even though all the major German political parties engaged in online ad campaigns, they kept their attempts at microtargeting to a minimum. Although their Facebook-sponsored posts were more successful than normal posts, we did not find statistical significance for all the political parties. Interestingly, we noticed that the distribution of users reached by the right-wing party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) diverges from that of the other parties. Finally, we discuss further challenges for enhancing transparency in online advertising. CCS CONCEPTS • Information systems → Display advertising; Social networks; • Human-centered computing → Social network analysis.

“…These analyses help the parties to design, correct, and strategically adapt campaign activities. Finally, political parties use social media as spaces for political microtargeting [45], sending personalized messages to users to encourage support. Social media has become so critical to political campaigning that social media has become 'environmental' [58]: parties and candidates cannot avoid or neglect its use, as social media platforms are now a cornerstone of political communication.…”

Section: Theoretical Background 21 Political Parties' Activity On Somentioning

confidence: 99%

The Rise of Germany's AfD

Shahrezaye

Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Social Media and Society

et al. 2019

Self Cite

In 2017, a far-right party entered the German parliament for the first time in over half a century. The Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) became the third largest party in the government. Its campaign focused on Euroscepticism and a nativist stance against immigration. The AfD used all available social media channels to spread this message. This paper seeks to understand the AfD's social media strategy over the last years on the full gamut of social media platforms and to verify the effectiveness of the party's online messaging strategy. For this purpose, we collected data related to Germany's main political parties from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. This data was subjected to a unified multi-platform analysis, which relies on four measures: party engagement, user engagement, message spread, and acceptance. This analysis proves the AfD's superior online popularity relative to the rest of Germany's political parties. The evidence also indicates that automated accounts contributed to this online superiority. Finally, we demonstrate that as part of its social media strategy, the AfD avoided discussion of its economic proposals and instead focused on pushing its anti-immigration agenda to gain popularity. CCS CONCEPTS • Networks → Social media networks; • Human-centered computing → Social network analysis;