Political Attack Ads, Social Media and Politics

Political attack ads are on the rise throughout the United States. Especially within the Greater Mankato, Minnesota region. Political attack ads have become a concern of many college students in response to the general increase. Those students who are so emotionally invested against the political attack ads have fallen right into the advertiser's trap. Unbeknownst to many of those students attack ads come in many forms such as memes on social media. The emotional response that people connect to the ads is the entire reason that political attack ads are made in the first place and actually work.

Like the other students who’ve expressed their concern, this report will shed some light on how even though political attack ads appear to work, they create an environment that is toxic to the individual and the voting community at large.

Whether its democrats or republicans, both sides have used attack ads in the past. A notable attack ad all the way from the 1960’s called Daisy, ran by Lyndon B Johnsons campaign, proved just how effective they can be. The goal of the advertisement, which in the United States is regarded as the first political attack ad (Avi), was to paint republican Barry Goldwater as a vile militaristic monster. While the ad never mentioned the candidate by name, enough context was given for the audience to understand. The ad was so emotionally charged with photos of a little girl with a daisy and images of war, the audience outcry shifted the polls by a whopping 22% even though the ad was only ran once! With results as groundbreaking as a 22% shift there’s no debating that attack ads work. In today's world attack ads do not have as much of an effect on the polls. This is probably due to the desensitizing effect of becoming accustomed to the onslaught of emotionally triggering verbiage or images displayed in today's political media world.

In contrast to the way people in the 1960s received their news, in 2018 more than 67% of all US citizens receive some type of news through social media (Zantal-Wiener). Considering how connected social media has made the entire globe, this is very understandable. The ability to view multiple sources all within a few seconds is a miracle. The issue lies in those whom do not view social media as a tool to connect with different perspectives, but rather to solidify their own beliefs. For instance, Facebook has a formula that responds to every like, share, Facebook group membership or even key words within a status in order to deliver the type of content Facebook determines the viewer wishes to see. With formulas like that in place the news that individuals receive are guaranteed to be biased. With Facebook political groups where anyone is able to post, attack ads are a guarantee.

With every like and share, the emotional response is triggered and the feedback loop continues onward. This feedback loop has been declared “The Internet Echo Chamber”(Pazzanese). Within social media groups many forms of attack ads are spread to millions of potential viewers. Aside from attack ads being emotionally triggering, they are sewn together with multiple logical fallacies. To the viewer in support of the group creating the ad, the emotional response emboldens their views which works to solidify beliefs in a very subconscious way. To the viewer against the ad, outrage or even disgust may surface. Any hopes of a truly constructive conversation between the poster and commenters vanishes before it has even started. Thus, the Narrative never shifts from a Us and Them perspective. Crucial and complex reasonings for beliefs that underline the emotional reactions never surface and toxicity ruminates to win the day.

With the digital climate revealed to be a political sink hole of sorts with the echo chambers, and the knowledge of how effective attack ads can be, SuperPAC's and other advertisers have put billions of dollars into subliminally swaying people's beliefs with ads that emotionally trigger (Dingfelder). Recently, data of social media users have been sold to these groups (Palmer). With personal data of millions of US citizens available the advertisements they produce have become extremely targeting and subliminal. Any like, share or personal labels such as mothers, conservatives, or specifically those with no political affiliation, now are able to be specifically targeted online with subconsciously suggestive advertisements. These types of advertisements are called microtargeting ads (Palmer). The intimate personalization of advertisement targeting is the newest form of attack ad. The difference between microtargeting ads and attack ads in general, is that microtargeting ads attack the individuals prescribed beliefs and originally termed attack ads attack the offenses candidate. Now not only are individuals facing the echo chambers of social media, but also the echo chambers of the advertisement corporations designed to subliminally persuade beliefs any time they go online!

Going into 2018 with all these variables at play, if it was impossible to talk about politics in the 1960s when the first form of attack ads took surface, it is most certainly impossible to talk about politics now. People are too afraid of experiencing types of prejudice due to their beliefs because it is so rampant. People are unfriending others on Facebook because of the ads and memes they share instead of having that conversation and showing innate respect because they feel those times have been lost to history. All of this easily paints a dystopic future where politics embody religious power in people's lives. A future where the only connection we all share, is the abuse of our own personal data and beliefs and an ever-shrinking ability to control our own responses in a fundamental way.

Responding to the constant emotionally triggering advertisements and the changing political atmosphere over the years, schools and institutions across The United States actively teach students how to critically think and discern fact from fiction. Students also learn how to discern emotional triggers and logical fallacies within advertisements and news sources. Awareness of the nature of the beast we call advertisers and their strategies and educating potential voters are the only real defense. When citizens must become educated to fight against the agendas being made by those seeking to run the country, in order to make a truly educated vote that resonates with their own true political values and beliefs, integrity and dignity is lost to the entire political system. My hope for the future lies in the moment the toxic momentum of today's political climate comes to a halt and companies such as Facebook, or other global powerhouses, restrict the flow of personal data and attack ads of all kinds. The power to make these changes truly lies within the companies and the government.

Until these changes are implemented, physiologically, the people's cortisone levels will never be safe. We will never be able to escape from the fight or flight impulse as we scroll through our social media feeds until election season comes to a halt. Even then microtargeting ads can continue to pull at our heartstrings and beliefs and we may never ever add nor forgive our extended family member on social media after that hateful attack ad he posted once way back when. As the former South Dakota Senator Tom Daschle once said, “Attack ads are the crack cocaine of politics (Conger.)” Now as always, don’t forget to like and share!

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