Artificial intelligence can save democracy, unless it destroys it first

10 August 2017

Authors: Vyacheslav Polonski

AI has helped politicians get elected, but what effect is it having on democracy? There has never been a better time to be a politician. But it’s an even ...
Read More Artificial intelligence can save democracy, unless it destroys it first

Stormzy 1: The Sun 0 — Three Reasons Why #GE2017 Was the Real Social Media Election

15 June 2017

Authors: Helen Margetts

After its initial appearance as a cynical but safe device by Teresa May to ratchet up the Conservative majority, the UK general election of 2017 turned out to be ...
Read More Stormzy 1: The Sun 0 — Three Reasons Why #GE2017 Was the Real Social Media Election

Could Voting Advice Applications force politicians to keep their manifesto promises?

12 June 2017

Authors: webteam

To what extent do VAAs alter the way voters perceive the meaning of elections, and encourage them to hold politicians to account for election promises? Image: ep_jhu (Flickr CC ...
Read More Could Voting Advice Applications force politicians to keep their manifesto promises?

Video: Ten things you wish you didn’t know about elections (and what to do about them)

5 May 2017

Authors: Philip Howard

In this talk, Prof Phil Howard explains how we are targeted and manipulated by social media and bots trying to influence voter behaviour. Since 2012, Professor Howard and team have ...
Read More Video: Ten things you wish you didn’t know about elections (and what to do about them)

Five Pieces You Should Probably Read On: The US Election

20 January 2017

Authors: David Sutcliffe

This is the first post in a series that will uncover great writing by faculty and students at the Oxford Internet Institute, things you should probably know, and ...
Read More Five Pieces You Should Probably Read On: The US Election

Can we predict electoral outcomes from Wikipedia traffic?

6 December 2016

Authors: Taha Yasseri

2016 presidential candidate Donald Trump in a residential backyard near Jordan Creek Parkway and Cody Drive in West Des Moines, Iowa, with lights and security cameras. Image by Tony ...
Read More Can we predict electoral outcomes from Wikipedia traffic?

Rethinking Digital Media and Political Change

23 August 2016

Authors: Ralf Schroeder

Did Twitter lead to Donald Trump’s rise and success to date in the American campaign for the presidency? Image: Gage Skidmore (Flickr) What are the dangers or new opportunities ...
Read More Rethinking Digital Media and Political Change

Digital era political parties post #GE2015

19 May 2015

Authors: Jonathan Bright

Along with consultants and advisors and large-scale data management platforms from Obama’s hugely successful digital campaigns, all the main political parties used an arsenal of social media and digital ...
Read More Digital era political parties post #GE2015

Could social media forecast political movements?

8 May 2015

Authors: Jonathan Bright

GE2015 turned out to be a bad night for some. Beyond the obvious political parties, the reputation of polling firms took a big hit: while the exit poll got ...
Read More Could social media forecast political movements?

Where do people mention candidates on Twitter?

8 May 2015

Authors: Jonathan Bright

In previous posts we’ve looked at people mentioning local party candidates on Twitter. In that post we basically assumed that people mentioning local candidates were based in the same ...
Read More Where do people mention candidates on Twitter?

Which parties were most read on Wikipedia?

8 May 2015

Authors: Jonathan Bright

Taha and Stefano previously looked at the distribution of Wikipedia pages by candidate. These pages are much more patchy than Twitter handles: only in the Conservative and Labour cases ...
Read More Which parties were most read on Wikipedia?

What if mentions were votes?

7 May 2015

Authors: Jonathan Bright

The last post looked at mention activity for each British constituency. What would happen if we took these mentions to be votes? Does this reaction from social media offer ...
Read More What if mentions were votes?

Which parties are having the most impact on Twitter?

7 May 2015

Authors: Jonathan Bright

The previous two posts have shown that the amount of effort parties are putting in on Twitter at the local level is pretty variable. But what about the response ...
Read More Which parties are having the most impact on Twitter?

The (local) General Election on Twitter

7 May 2015

Authors: Jonathan Bright

The UK’s national election is decided on a constituency basis: 650 odd separate small elections, each returning one MP. Despite the obvious importance of national parties and their leaders ...
Read More The (local) General Election on Twitter

Social media are not just for elections

6 May 2015

Authors: Helen Margetts

The Oxford West and Abingdon hopefuls recreated in Lego for BBC Radio Oxford by Andrew Beaumont. #GE2015 is the ‘is it a social media election?’ election. Most usually the ...
Read More Social media are not just for elections

Political polarization on social media: do birds of a feather flock together on Twitter?

5 May 2015

Authors: Anatoliy Gruzd

Is social media democratizing and empowering, or simply a new platform for tighter messaging and control? As social media usage widens and deepens across much of the world, its ...
Read More Political polarization on social media: do birds of a feather flock together on Twitter?

Online presence of the General Election Candidates: Labour wins Twitter while Tories take Wikipedia

3 May 2015

Authors: Taha Yasseri

Some have called the forthcoming UK general election a Social Media Election. It might be a bit of exaggeration, but there is no doubt that both candidates and voters are very ...
Read More Online presence of the General Election Candidates: Labour wins Twitter while Tories take Wikipedia

What does it mean to win a debate anyway?: Media Coverage of the Leaders’ Debates vs. Google Search Trends

29 April 2015

Authors: Eve Ahearn

Following the April 2nd Leaders’ Debate the media portrayed Nicola Sturgeon, the leader of the Scottish National Party, as the victor of the night, or at least a victor. ...
Read More What does it mean to win a debate anyway?: Media Coverage of the Leaders’ Debates vs. Google Search Trends

Everyone’s Reading About Greece – European Language Political Wikipedia

25 April 2015

Authors: Eve Ahearn

By Eve Ahearn and Taha Yasseri. Reading niche political party Wikipedia pages, as one does when working on the Social Election Prediction project, one might wonder if there are any trends in ...
Read More Everyone’s Reading About Greece – European Language Political Wikipedia

Wikipedia and Shapps: Sockpuppetry, Conflict of Interest, or None?

23 April 2015

Authors: Taha Yasseri

Will the real Grant Shapps please stand up? ViciousCritic/Totally Socks, (CC BY-NC-SA) You must have heard about the recent accusation of Grant Shapps by the Guardian. Basically, the Guardian ...
Read More Wikipedia and Shapps: Sockpuppetry, Conflict of Interest, or None?

Tag: elections