The Outrage Machine
Microtargeting, Microaggressions, and the Breakdown of Civic Engagement
By Mark Harris
Microtargeting is a modern business practice that is as prevalent in the corporate world as it is in the political one. It uses your data, through voting records, census records, social media activity, television watching habits, and even credit card purchases, to target you with messages. It’s the reason why, suddenly, you get ads for vacuum cleaners on your phone, smart TV, and every other device you have that connects to the internet after you had a conversation about buying one in front of your smart speaker. It’s painfully annoying enough when it’s trying to sell you something, but microtargeting employed by political campaigns is so much more detrimental.
Campaigns target different groups with different messages. This is likely not new or concerning information to you. However, when you realize that campaigns that have the resources use the same data and microtargeting strategies as the big corporations, it becomes very scary indeed. This is part of the greater issue of datafication, where individuals in the eyes of entities like campaigns and companies become nothing more than points of data, stripping us of our complexity. Add in the rage-baiting political campaigning strategies that spur distrust, and we all feel politically and socially isolated from one another.
Keep Cool and Think It Out
The Editors
Citizens Digest Staff
- Ruth McLatchie, Editor-in-Chief, Written Media
- Mike Gonzalez, Technical Editor, Writer
- Donald Wiggins, Chief Legal and Organizational Officer
- Daniel DeLuca, Chief Financial Officer
- Mark Harris, Operations Manager and Podcast Coordinator
- Elizabeth Frost, Circulation and Volunteer Manager
- Alicia Meckstroth, Contributor
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