| I only need this question answered: Question: From an ethical perspective, what are your thoughts on influencing voter behaviors and selections using personal data via social media, and other sources the government has access to? I have included the whole post so you have background to go by. The New Hampshire presidential primary during the winter of 2008 was fascinating. Coming off of his victory in Iowa, every poll showed Obama with a substantial (double digit lead in many) advantage heading into New Hampshire. Yet, Clinton stunned pollsters/media by winning. Provide some plausible explanations as to what possibly happened. “Determining voter preference among the candidates running for office would appear to be a relatively simple task: just ask them who they are going to vote for on Election Day. In fact, differences in how this question is asked and where it is placed in the questionnaire can affect the results” (Pew Research). Pew Research goes on to highlight additional challenges that have potential to affect the validity of polling – 1) there is a portion of the population that has not decided on a candidate and is more easily influenced by the polling results 2) not all states mention their party affiliation of the ticket and not all states feature a random selection of the ballot order 3) number of candidates can be very large and names may be unfamiliar to voters 4) voters may not answer honestly (Pew Research). “Their disparities in income and education are not reflective of the national norms. The largest cities are overgrown small towns. Simply put, they do not reflect the broader electorate” (Flanagin, 2016). I think this shows the lack of validity in polling, and the impact diversity has on any selection process. That said, I do find the concept of behavioral trends and influences interesting when it comes to selection processes like this. I agree the media plays a huge role in this, right/wrong/indifferent, as each network/station influences their viewers with the personal agenda/bias. Furthermore, the Cambridge Analytica outburst revealed some very interesting practices in regards to influencing voter behaviors, and even leveraging their personal behaviors/patterns to further influence their selection. With an increase in technology and access to information, the validity of polling seems to lack more and more. The speed in which we can access a breaking story, headline, scandal is within seconds after hearing – as we read these headlines and stories, produced by biased networks, we are influenced one way or another. As a result, the sustainability of polling is not reliable. From an ethical perspective, what are your thoughts on influencing voter behaviors and selections using personal data via social media, and other sources the government has access to? Hanke, J. E., & Wichern, D. W. (2009). Business forecasting (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. https://www.pewresearch.org/methods/u-s-survey-research/election-polling/ (Links to an external site.) https://qz.com/602487/iowa-and-new-hampshire-wield-too-much-influence-the-us-needs-a-national-primary/ (Links to |
