Social media in the 2016 United States presidential election

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Social media played an important role in shaping the course of events surrounding the 2016 United States presidential election. It facilitated greater voter interaction with the political climate; unlike traditional media, social media gave people the ability to create, comment on, and share content related to the election.[1]

Many candidates extended their campaiging efforts onto a variety of social media platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat.[2] Depending on the digital architecture of each platform, candidates would use a variety of techniques to discredit their opponent, and gain support. In turn, users could share, like, or comment on these actions, furthering the candidates' outreach. By doing so, candidates and users both would influence or change people's views on a specific issue.[3]

Following the election, disclosures of widespread personal data misuse by Facebook and Cambridge Analytica for political advertising purposes were reported by The Guardian and The New York Times. In response, Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified in front of Congress, and Facebook was fined $5 billion by the Federal Trade Commission for privacy violations. A separate investigation into the Russian interference in the election was also conducted, and concluded with the observation that Russian intelligence agencies had created fake accounts and spread misinformation on multiple social media sites in order to influence the election in favor of the eventual winner Donald Trump. This in turn prompted a debate over dissemination of fake news over the Internet, with many social media sites adopting new fact-checking policies for the 2020 election.[4][5]

Background

As the campaign began, analysts assumed that, because of the increased reach and capacity of social media sites of all kinds since the last election cycle, social media would be used in potentially powerful new ways. The Wall Street Journal predicted that the use of campaign advertisements targeted at individuals using newly available data would be among the more notable innovations.[6] The political newspaper, The Hill, concluded not only that "[s]ocial media's influence in this presidential election is stronger than it has ever been," but that it "will shape campaigns for years to come."[7] According to The Wall Street Journal, the "traditional media" and the Democratic and Republican parties have lost "dominance" of public opinion to the "digital revolution."[8]

Frank Speiser, the co-founder of SocialFlow, stated, "This is the first true social media election." He added that, before the 2016 presidential primaries, social media was an "auxiliary method of communication. But now [candidates] can put messages out there and get folks on social media to act on your behalf by just sharing it around. You don't have to buy access to reach millions of people anymore." According to Republican political strategist Patrick Ruffini, in the 2012 election cycle, candidates would use social media to make short statements, and re-tweet or thank followers.[7] The candidates were able to use social media to get free advertising from their supporters.

Main campaigns

Donald Trump campaign

Donald Trump's official White House portrait (taken 2017)

The Trump campaign made extensive use of social media platforms, notably Twitter, to reach voters. Unlike other candidates, Trump's Twitter and Facebook posts linked to news media rather than the campaign site as part of his strategy to emphasize media appearance over volunteers and donations.

U.S. Capitol attack.[14][15]

The

illegal immigrants who committed violent crimes in the US, intercut with footage of Bush using the phrase.[16][17][18] According to Eric Fehrnstrom, political analyst and media strategist, the video marked a crucial turning point in the campaign for the Republican nomination.[16] Political analyst Michael Barone regarded the ad as a key moment in Trump's political rise.[19] The San Francisco Chronicle described the ad as pivotal in transforming Instagram from a personal photo-sharing app that some celebrities and politicians used to enhance their images, into a propaganda tool.[20]

Donald Trump's tweet activity from his first tweet in May 2009. His tweet activity pattern has changed from 2013.

Supporters of Donald Trump and opponents of Hillary Clinton conducted an Internet campaign between June 2015 and November 2016 in an effort to sway the election. During this time period, users of social media, especially Reddit and 4chan, conducted numerous "operations" to sway public opinion using Internet memes, Internet posts and online media.[21][22][23] The Internet conflict that arose from this campaign has been dubbed by some as "The Great Meme War".[24]

On Reddit, r/The Donald was a pro-Trump subforum (termed a subreddit on Reddit) that ranked consistently as the most active on the site.[25][26] Due to the very active community and the algorithm that dictated what content reached the "r/all" default page of the website, a significant portion of the r/all page was content from r/The_Donald. In response, Reddit made changes to its algorithms on June 15 in an attempt to preserve variety of r/all.[27] On July 27, 2016, Trump participated in an Ask Me Anything (AMA) on r/The_Donald, answering thirteen questions from his supporters.[28] r/The_Donald was more active and had a higher subscriber count than the subreddit for Hillary Clinton, r/HillaryClinton, until the former was shut down by Reddit in 2020 for repeated breaches of policy.[29]

Hillary Clinton campaign

Hillary Clinton in 2016

Hillary Clinton's campaign team used already established social media strategies and tactics that the candidate had used in previous elections to help boost her popularity in the 2016 election. None of the other candidates had recently run for president, inevitably making the tactic unique to Clinton.[30] A Pew Research study showed that 80% of Clinton's posts included links to her website or campaign pages, while 78% of Trump's posts included links to news media. It was also found that on Facebook, Clinton linked to her campaign 60% of the time, and the news media a quarter of the time.[31] The Clinton campaign used social media to advertise Trump's use of fake news and potential Russian intervention. Many argue that Clinton's loss was in part due to Trump gaining the votes of groups that do not use social media, while Clinton's audience was active on most social media platforms.[32]

In August 2015, Clinton was involved in a dispute with Jeb Bush. Bush copied one of Clinton's Twitter graphics that discussed student debt. Clinton responded by crossing out the words on Bush's graphic and stating "F: The grade to Florida for college affordability under Jeb Bush’s leadership." with the caption "@JebBush Fixed it for you." Bush responded with a graphic of his own that used Clinton's logo to criticize the growing tax rate. In this incident, Clinton and Bush used popular social media trends to capture their target audience and grow their social media presence, such as publicly arguing online (often termed "having beef" on social media).[33]

Twitter activity of Hillary Clinton from her first tweet in June 2013 to September 2017. Her tweet activity increased in 2015.

In April 2016,

super PAC, announced a program called "Barrier Breakers" intended to rival the largely online volunteer efforts of Sanders and Trump supporters. With $1 million in funding, Correct the Record employed paid staff described as "former reporters, bloggers, public affairs specialists, designers" to respond to negative content about Clinton.[34]

On June 9, 2016, as a response to Donald Trump's tweet regarding Obama's endorsement to Clinton, she wrote with a three-word tweet: "Delete your account"; it became her most retweeted tweet of all time.[35][36] After the Democratic National Convention, Clinton began campaigning with running mate, Tim Kaine, and while on the campaign trail, she stated, "I don't know who created Pokémon Go [...] I try to get them to have Pokémon Go to the polls".[37]

Clinton used social media platform

Cedar Rapids", quickly became a meme on video-sharing app Vine, gaining over 17 million plays in a month.[39][40]

Ted Cruz campaign

Twitter activity of Ted Cruz

According to The Guardian, Cruz was "skewered by social media memes".[41] His run for the Presidency was ended by a series of memes, including a viral video of a failed attempt to shake hands with his running mate Carly Fiorina, which was edited to draw attention towards Cruz's awkwardness. The video was viewed 3.5 million times online. In addition, a mock-conspiracy theory faux-asserted that Cruz was the Zodiac Killer, an unidentified serial killer active in northern California from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, largely before Cruz was even born.[42]

Bernie Sanders campaign

Twitter activity of Bernie Sanders from his first tweet in May 2009. His Twitter activity increased during his presidential campaign.

Social media is widely acknowledged to have played a crucial role in the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign. His large spending on Facebook and Instagram ads attracted a large following of young voters and online advertising also bolstered his campaign by raising nearly $230 million.[43] Sanders supporters succeeded in closing down a planned Trump rally in Chicago in March 2016 and did so through Facebook organizing efforts.[44] As of May 2016, 450,000 people belonged to the Facebook group Bernie Sanders' Dank Meme Stash, one of the several online groups supporting Sanders. The group was primarily devoted to praising Bernie whilst pointing out flaws in rival candidates Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, and Hillary Clinton in comical ways.[45] "Bernie or Hillary?", or "Bernie vs. Hillary", was an Internet meme made popular during the 2016 Democratic Party presidential nomination in the United States 2016 presidential election in which Internet users who mostly favored Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton compared the two candidates in faux political posters, with Sanders being portrayed as over-enthusiastic and Clinton being shown as more clueless.[46] The meme also received criticism for its gender stereotypes, having portrayed Clinton as stiff and unable to be funny.[47] Similar memes comparing presidential candidates to each other continued to be posted throughout the election, on a variety of social media platforms.[48]

Other candidates

Gary Johnson campaign