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Obama’s data advantage

American

American

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http://www.politico.com/news/stories/06


By LOIS ROMANO | 6/9/12 7:01 AM EDT

CHICAGO — On the sixth floor of a sleek office building here, more than 150 techies are quietly peeling back the layers of your life. They know what you read and where you shop, what kind of work you do and who you count as friends. They also know who your mother voted for in the last election.

The depth and breadth of the Obama campaign’s 2012 digital operation — from data mining to online organizing — reaches so far beyond anything politics has ever seen, experts maintain, that it could impact the outcome of a close presidential election. It makes the president’s much-heralded 2008 social media juggernaut — which raised half billion dollars and revolutionized politics — look like cavemen with stone tablets.

Mitt Romney indeed is ramping up his digital effort after a debilitating primary and, for sure, the notion that Democrats have a monopoly on cutting edge technology no longer holds water.
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What is this, some kind of a joke? Is this what campaigns are coming to when they've run out of ideas and have zip to run on?
 
Social media can have a significant impact in the modern-era election process, Obama has used it well so far in his presidency. Not sure why this is viewed as such a ridiculous notion.
 
Something illegal has to be happening with this. Mark my words, spying and illegally collecting data will come to light with this eventually.
 
Belus said:
Something illegal has to be happening with this. Mark my words, spying and illegally collecting data will come to light with this eventually.
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I don't know if I approve, but its not illegal if its all public information.
 
Belus said:
Something illegal has to be happening with this. Mark my words, spying and illegally collecting data will come to light with this eventually.
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It's not spying when you posted the information to freaking facebook.
 
Yea, yea I get it. That's grand and all but I'm saying that something else might be going on that isn't being reported about yet because it's not known yet. Not one of you saw this and thought, "There is a chance they might be using illegal means to get data..."?
 
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American said:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/06



What is this, some kind of a joke? Is this what campaigns are coming to when they've run out of ideas and have zip to run on?
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Retailers use this same technology to pitch everything from cars to chicken sandwiches. It's not at all surprising that political candidate would use it to pitch themselves and try to convince people to vote for them. Welcome to the 21st. century.
 
American said:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/06



What is this, some kind of a joke? Is this what campaigns are coming to when they've run out of ideas and have zip to run on?
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I don't know why this is so surprising - as others have pointed out, social media plays a significant role in shaping elections. Corporations are heavily invested in these same tools, so why is it so surprising that political campaigns are doing the same thing?
 
Belus said:
Yea, yea I get it. That's grand and all but I'm saying that something else might be going on that isn't being reported about yet because it's not known yet. Not one of you saw this and thought, "There is a chance they might be using illegal means to get data..."?
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"Illegal means"? If you choose to put something in the public domain YOU are responsible for it.
 
Maybe this is why so many people on my facebook have been posting those idiotic requests that facebook and its "partners" discontinue their data mining.

:roll:

I already get e-mails alleging to be from Obama, Michelle Obama, Ann Romney, and Mitt Romney asking me to donate or take part in fundraisers. Obviously none of 'em are very good at data mining if they think *I* can afford to attend a fundraiser, or if they think I'll actually donate...I've never donated to a political campaign in my life.
 
Dittohead not! said:
Retailers use this same technology to pitch everything from cars to chicken sandwiches. It's not at all surprising that political candidate would use it to pitch themselves and try to convince people to vote for them. Welcome to the 21st. century.
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For sure.

I personally don't like it when retailers use this method.

But then again I don't like the robo calls at home either.

I'm a simple person. But I can think/choose for myself and don't need any candidates help.
 
Dittohead not! said:
Retailers use this same technology to pitch everything from cars to chicken sandwiches. It's not at all surprising that political candidate would use it to pitch themselves and try to convince people to vote for them. Welcome to the 21st. century.
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That reminds me of the "Target knows you're pregnant" report. Apparently, they can track your purchases so thoroughly that they can ascertain details of your life that would shock you. They can conclude based on purchases of items X, Y, and Z that you're likely pregnant or a new mother and then send you advertisements specifically geared to your suspected needs, for example. Creepy, but interesting use of profiling. The psychology freak in me is almost creaming herself over the idea.
 
Good post. I have often though of this possibility as well. The more information about "voters" a candidate has, and the more "direct" and "discrete" communication with them is possible, the better able a candidate is to "target" multiple, even opposite messages to "the people". Many internet sites now do this with advertsing, they know a lot of "personal" information about you and thus can make very educated guesses (SWAGs) about your likes/dislikes and show you "personalized" most likely to appeal ad selections. Using direct mail (especially Email) or simply buying (renting?)support/access from major search engine or popular social media internet sites you may effectively target the public.
 
tessaesque said:
That reminds me of the "Target knows you're pregnant" report. Apparently, they can track your purchases so thoroughly that they can ascertain details of your life that would shock you. They can conclude based on purchases of items X, Y, and Z that you're likely pregnant or a new mother and then send you advertisements specifically geared to your suspected needs, for example. Creepy, but interesting use of profiling. The psychology freak in me is almost creaming herself over the idea.
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Back when supermarket "club" cards came out a bunch of my friends started trading them with the most unlikely person they could think of.

Young guy swaps with old lady, older guy swaps with high school girl.

All to confuse the stupid computers.

"Why is this college kid buying Geritol and womens depends?"
 
I'm curious as to the difference between a political candidate doing this, and Google doing it.
 
Deuce said:
It's not spying when you posted the information to freaking facebook.
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But did you post it VOLUNTARILY? Much data mining can be done from FORCED gov't communication: voter registration, motor vehicle information, FIT records, SS/Medicare records, public library records and even census data. Once you get a name/address combination further cross checking can "whittle down" the masses into neat separate database piles rather quickly, allowing further concentration of efforts on likey "valid" targets only. Imagine simply dividing your ads by using only zipcode/income/party registration/race/gender and sending a "tweeked" message, slightly (or even vastly) different, targeted to each subgroup. ;-)
 
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ttwtt78640 said:
But did you post it VOLUNTARILY? Much data mining can be done from FORCED gov't communication: voter registration, motor vehicle information, FIT records, SS/Medicare records, public library records and even census data. Once you get a name/address combination further cross checking can "whittle down" the masses into neat separate database piles rather quickly, allowing further concentration of efforts on likey "valid" targets only. Imagine simply dividing your ads by using only zipcode/income/party registration/race/gender and sending a "tweeked" message, slightly (or even vastly) different, targeted to each subgroup. ;-)
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Judging from the sorts of ads I get, it appears to be mostly what you put on Facebook and what you buy online or even look at in ebay or Craig's list.
 
Dittohead not! said:
Judging from the sorts of ads I get, it appears to be mostly what you put on Facebook and what you buy online or even look at in ebay or Craig's list.
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I've been googling the hell out of "cheap bathroom vanities". I'd love to receive a coupon for those!
 
ttwtt78640 said:
But did you post it VOLUNTARILY? Much data mining can be done from FORCED gov't communication: voter registration, motor vehicle information, FIT records, SS/Medicare records, public library records and even census data. Once you get a name/address combination further cross checking can "whittle down" the masses into neat separate database piles rather quickly, allowing further concentration of efforts on likey "valid" targets only. Imagine simply dividing your ads by using only zipcode/income/party registration/race/gender and sending a "tweeked" message, slightly (or even vastly) different, targeted to each subgroup. ;-)
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If you POST it, then of course it's done voluntarily. We're not talking about government records here, we're talking about social media.
 
tessaesque said:
That reminds me of the "Target knows you're pregnant" report. Apparently, they can track your purchases so thoroughly that they can ascertain details of your life that would shock you. They can conclude based on purchases of items X, Y, and Z that you're likely pregnant or a new mother and then send you advertisements specifically geared to your suspected needs, for example. Creepy, but interesting use of profiling. The psychology freak in me is almost creaming herself over the idea.
Click to expand...

The other half of the equation is the actual influence over what you buy. A marketing guy for a large company once told me "You decide what you buy... but we decide what you want."
 
American said:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/06

By LOIS ROMANO | 6/9/12 7:01 AM EDT

CHICAGO — On the sixth floor of a sleek office building here, more than 150 techies are quietly peeling back the layers of your life. They know what you read and where you shop, what kind of work you do and who you count as friends. They also know who your mother voted for in the last election.

The depth and breadth of the Obama campaign’s 2012 digital operation — from data mining to online organizing — reaches so far beyond anything politics has ever seen, experts maintain, that it could impact the outcome of a close presidential election. It makes the president’s much-heralded 2008 social media juggernaut — which raised half billion dollars and revolutionized politics — look like cavemen with stone tablets.

Mitt Romney indeed is ramping up his digital effort after a debilitating primary and, for sure, the notion that Democrats have a monopoly on cutting edge technology no longer holds water.
Click to expand...

What is this, some kind of a joke? Is this what campaigns are coming to when they've run out of ideas and have zip to run on?
Click to expand...

Ah-Ummmm...

From the book, "Courage and Consequence," by Karl "The Architect" Rove: the 8 hallmarks of a "Rovian" campaign...

Rovian #4 (page 65): The fourth hallmark of a Rovian campaign is "the use of sophisticated modeling to identify potential supporters and match them with issues that will persuade and turn them out. All kinds of publicaly available information about voters can be used to predict which party or candidate someone will support, what issues will win them over, and the likelihood they will actually vote. That information can include, for example, their age, what kind of car they have, whether they rent or own, the magazines they read, their TV viewing habits, whether they have a gun, where they shop and what they buy, if and where they go to church, their hobbies, their birthplace, and whethery they own stock. There is no one piece of data that can predict the behavior of a voter; it's the relationship between all kinds of data points that can be revealing. So the modeling is complex and difficult to do, but it can make a huge impact by allowing a campaign to focus its energies on voters who are truly up for grabs and on those who need extra encouragement to turn out.
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'Nuff Said...:2wave:
 
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tessaesque said:
I've been googling the hell out of "cheap bathroom vanities". I'd love to receive a coupon for those!
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If the purveyors of cheap bathroom vanities are on the ball, you will at least receive some ads for same.
 
StillBallin75 said:
"Illegal means"? If you choose to put something in the public domain YOU are responsible for it.
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Oh for the love not voting for Obama, what I mean is that I wouldn't be surprised if he is going for information that isn't just found on FACEBOOK or a public domain....hence the illegal aspect...
 
Belus said:
Something illegal has to be happening with this. Mark my words, spying and illegally collecting data will come to light with this eventually.
Click to expand...

Why exactly do you believe this?
 
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