online platforms with hundreds of posts with a
consistent message. They specialized in memes
with tacky messages that would riff off events
like the finale of the cult show “Game of Thrones.’’
People would laugh - and share.
The content wasn’t slick, but it was plentiful.
“You’re going to slap some Calibri font on some
... re-used meme and you’re going to publish
it and you’re going to get on to the next one,’’
Guerin told a conference in May in Sydney. “And
you know what? Their content is going to do
better than the thing your poor graphic designer
spent a week on. Sad but true.’’
While such posts may draw laughter and wry
comments as readers share them, they have
serious implications for society.
Even as candidates are lowering the bar on
what they are willing to do or say, campaigns
are increasing their sophistication in using data
from a wide variety of sources to micro-target
voters with custom-made messages. At the
same time, improvements in technology are
making it easier to manipulate audio and video
in ways that are invisible to the untrained eye,
Krieger said.
“As our lives get more and more connected -
smart cities and sensors and movie-watching
preferences, smart appliances - campaigns
are going to be able to target people with
frightening levels of consistency,’’ he said. You
can push voters ``in the direction you want them
to go. ...”
“It’s going to provide a critical threat
to democracy.’’