Their Behaviors , people ' s behaviors tell you what they ' re into . Such as their purchasing habits , their job roles , their travelling habits , the events they have or are attending , the technology gadgets they are using among others .
That is the power of Facebook ' s Ad Targeting system . At the click of a button from the comfort of your desk , Facebook enables you to Profile particular individuals at particular locations , whose support you need . You can tailor diverse messages for them and using the data on this platform , Facebook will deliver at just the right moment when your target audience is online . This means you can be virtually present at the precise moment and location , when and where they are , influencing the decision they ' re about to make .
This is what a Digital Expert will call Behavioral or Interest-Based Targeting . This makes Facebook the darling of political players versus Google , whose targeting options are more limiting because you have to cookie-match .
Why Facebook Needs Politics
Social Media is the modern day word-ofmouth , we don ' t tell people things anymore ; we read and see them online . And none else understands the power of this dynamic as our politicians . In my mother tongue , the term ' politician ' loosely translates to " one who complains " or " makes an argument ". It ' s all about the power of your mind and your mouth .
The trick when making campaign pit stops and speeches is to have an intricate understanding of who your audience at a particular location are and what message will resonate them . That ' s how you become popular and win votes .
Why Does Facebook Allow Political Ads ?
Facebook needs to support the political ecosystem because of the huge tranches of money it brings and access to influential lobbyists .
Also , political conversation drives engagement on Facebook , via posts in groups , pages and personal profiles . This is important for Facebook as it keeps users on the platform which converges with the political interests of political players .
Digital Ad platforms once hooked into machine learning applications make it not only possible to identify persons who resonate with your candidate ' s messaging and your competitors , but also those who don ' t resonate with your competitors and those in the middle .
The Power Of Micro- Targeting
Using Digital , conspiracists can counter political opponents ’ narratives in real-time . Take an example where the Washington Times , perceived as a liberal-leaning publisher by conservatives , publishes an article that conspiracists feel attacks their candidate , in this case , Donald J . Trump . They create alternative conspiracy theorist content and use the power of microtargeting , by creating custom audiences that target undecideds and non-voters whom they deem to share in conservative ideals , locking out the decided who are competitor leaning to promote that conspiracy content to .
To put this into context using a local example , take a case-in-sample recently where Kenya ' s Deputy President ' s philanthropic team donated foodstuff in Kiambu County . Within the week an alleged alternative donator branded in DP team ' s colors donated poisonous food substances in the very same location . It meant to change the conversation from the good deed that endears one political player to the people , to an alternative narrative that quickly trended on twitter and on local news websites , both credible and conspiracy blogs .
Digital Ad platforms once hooked into machine learning applications make it not only possible to identify persons who resonate with your candidate ' s messaging and your competitors , but also those who don ' t resonate with your competitors and those in the middle . You can then create unique sets and classify each of these , then you can create fake content about your opponent and feed it to those who support your candidate and the undecideds whom you can sway to your side .
Of note , however , is that you can ensure Facebook does not display this promoted content to your opponent or his / her supporters . Therefore , they may never know of the false information being peddled about them , which makes it impossible to respond to it or deny it . Unlike the old times when the only channels were TV , Radio or Print and launching a sneak attack on your opponent meant that the media would broadcast it to everyone .
The Puppet Role Of ( Kenya ' s ) Media
News Business is an event-driven business , investigative journalism is expensive and with media houses smarting from a spate of losses to Digital media platforms who have disrupted their advertising-based business models , the easier approach is to play the game leveraging the power of Clickbait , which political players have learnt to manipulate .
Most will monitor trending topics on Twitter , do some minimal research , push out news stories on their websites , then post it on Twitter tagging the hashtag to gain more viewers . Or create sensational political headlines that they know will trend online driving traffic to their website and broadcast channels .
However , politicians use Social Media to direct media coverage of events . For any media company to be in the business they need advertisers . The model is simple , advertising follows audiences and audiences follow content .
Unlike their Chinese peers whom the rest of the world has branded as " China ' s keyboard warriors ", these share a belief in China ' s cause . Kenya ' s twitter " keyboard mercenaries " do not align to a political grouping based on ideals but propelled by a financial incentive . However , if trending on twitter won elections in Kenya , then politicians like Peter Kenneth and Jimnah Mbaru would have won .
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