Note to Self
Deep-Dark-Data-Driven Politics
Mar 29, 2017
Nicholas Confessore, a Politics correspondent for The New York Times, joins Michal Kosinski, a Stanford psychometrics expert, to dive into the murky world of data-driven politics. They discuss the controversial strategies of Cambridge Analytica in the Trump campaign, questioning if personality profiling really swayed voters or if charisma was the true trump card. The conversation raises ethical dilemmas surrounding the manipulation of voter behavior and the fine line between effective persuasion and unethical influence in both politics and marketing.
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Quick takeaways
- Cambridge Analytica revolutionized political advertising by utilizing psychographics to target voters' emotions, despite concerns over effectiveness and ethical implications.
- The podcast highlights the potential for personalized political messaging to either engage or manipulate voters, stressing the need for critical awareness of digital profiling.
Deep dives
The Role of Cambridge Analytica in Elections
Cambridge Analytica claimed to revolutionize political marketing by utilizing psychographics, which analyze personality traits to tailor ads to individual voters. This approach goes beyond traditional methods of segmenting audiences based on demographics, aiming instead to connect with voters on a deeper emotional level. However, investigations revealed that despite their bold claims, they did not significantly impact Donald Trump's campaign, as their techniques were not thoroughly applied. Ultimately, the firm’s supposed influence stems more from narrative than from proven effectiveness in swaying the election results.
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