>

Apparently Obama made good use of social media for his initial run before Trump or Republicans figured it out.  
They seem to be about done influencing your mind once you're wearing your AR glasses and seeing political ads while you take a shit every morning in a couple of years. Unless they find a way to engage in trans-cranial direct current or magnetic stimulation to influence your thoughts directly.
We're a few short years away from a media future in which computer generated video fakes will be indistinguishable from real videos.  It's hard to imagine the full consequences of professional liars in possession of such software.
For example, a large part of the country is currently losing its mind over Hunter Biden's blurry penis pictures.  Imagine what would happen if somebody made a convincing fake video of Hunter Biden meeting with a Chinese spy to sell secrets he got from Joe Biden?  Or a convincing fake video of trump's infamous pee tape?
Or, much more frightening, imagine fake videos of important things, like fake missile launches, or attacks across a border.
We're on a collision course with this technology. >

I thoroughly believe technology like that should be banned. Think of the implication where video fakes are indistinguishable from the real thing. You could take any random person’s face and put it on anyone having sex. It couldn’t just hurt politicians but ordinary citizens. 
I know that going with the sex deepfake is a bit cliche but there’s no telling the amount evil you could do with it. It’s too dangerous to be in the hands of creatures as flawed as human beings. >

I think it would deeply affect our political discourse in a surprising way. People will eventually just not trust anything that does not fit their narrative (we are almost there right now). >

Well, everyone kind of agrees mass media has allowed people to invent confining, pigeon-holed narratives for their worldview. You’re right, but your view isn’t surprising. 
Unrelated, but I’m glad my anti-deepfake comment got two upvotes. That stuff is truly disgusting >

Surely NFT cards, displaying in stunning realism, the life & achievements of the candidates? /s >

For me the biggest technological revolution has already happened with cellphones and targeted ads. Unless spmething divorces people from their devices OR bans targeted ads, we arrive at a point where brainwashing becomes easier and easier. >

I don't buy that Twitter got Trump elected.
Vitriol and hyperbolic reporting from news media, in my opinion, got Trump elected.  On voting day moderates were faced with choosing between two candidates  they didn't like.


I don't like Hillary


I don't like Trump, but he isn't as bad as they say


This was my opinion on election day and have never seen an ounce of information that would sway me.
Trump sucked, why the media didn't report on him honestly I will never understand.  Take out the hyperbole and over the top bs accusations and he loses.  
But after dozens of stories where people walk away saying...yeah that's bad but it's not near as bad as they are trying to make it out, people found themselves defending bad shit against misinformation...that led to just enough votes to win >

I think we’re going to see more and more granular dissemination of political messaging/propaganda. That was one of the features of how Bolsonaro got into power, supporters spreading messages through WhatsApp. It both bolstered the message as it was utilizing more personal relationships rather than the pseudo-personal of content and social media, but also allowed it to run even farther under the radar of fact checking/dissenting opinion. >

Radio and television were privately managed. Twitter however is public, a free for all when it comes to influence because opinions and ideologies flourish. The issue with Trump’s rise was the spread of misinformation and its amplification by others to their followers and platforms. What Trump showed us was how powerful Twitter could be, this claim being backed up by Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter. Unless there is a national campaign for type of social media and political literacy that focuses on critical thinking and allowing people to make their own opinions, I believe the current trend of events will continue and become more influential as more digital media users come online. >

We don't know because future tech has not been invented but with MAGA and Qanon not wanting to accept the truth and reality Deep Fakes are going to be a real problem. >

For 2024, it’s going to be tik tok. They’ve really got that Facebook level traction right now, I don’t see them going anywhere before 2024. >

Trump did a much better job with YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and other social media during the 2016 and 2020 elections. I have not seen that with the otherGOP candidates for other offices.