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Nick Anstead

@nickanstead.bsky.social

1.8K followers 3.9K following 630 posts

Associate Professor at LSE, researching political communications and the role of ideas in politics. More on me and my research: https://linktr.ee/NickAnstead

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Nick Anstead @nickanstead.bsky.social · Apr 24

🚨New article alert! 🚨

"Facebook election advertising: dangerous for democracy or politics as usual? The case of the 2017 UK general election" in the Journal of Information Technology & Politics.

Available open access: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

New article title: Facebook election advertising: dangerous for democracy or politics as usual? The case of the 2017 UK general election

Abstract: Recent years have seen increasing concern about the potential of Facebook advertisements to microtarget small groups or individuals in the electorate with specific messages during campaigns and the impact such practices might have on democratic institutions. This article examines Facebook advertising during the 2017 UK general election using a dataset created by the civil society organization Who Targets Me. We use content analysis to code negativity and political topics to identify if certain messages disproportionately appear in the feeds of particular voters. Our empirical findings suggest that, while there is evidence of broad demographic targeting occurring, the single most important factor in what appears in a user’s Facebook feed is the point in the election campaign they are accessing Facebook. Surprisingly, given the UK’s first-past-the-post election system, we find limited evidence of geographical targeting. We situate these findings in the political context of the 2017 UK General Election, an unexpected “snap election” which saw large opinion poll movements during the campaign, and was called in the period of political dislocation following the UK’s referendum on European Union membership in 2016. As such, we argue that the election remains an important case study for understanding the interaction between the affordances of Facebook advertising and the political context.

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Nick Anstead @nickanstead.bsky.social · 1d

No chocolate bar for Mr Wickham?

Advert for Cadbury’s chocolate bars featuring characters from Pride and Prejudice.

Nick Anstead @nickanstead.bsky.social · 2d

a woman in a clown costume is making a funny face with her mouth open .

ALT: a woman in a clown costume is making a funny face with her mouth open .

media.tenor.com

Nick Anstead @nickanstead.bsky.social · 2d

Oh God, Jenrick has gone full on prop comedian.

Tory MP Robert Jenrick with a judge's wig.

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Nick Anstead @nickanstead.bsky.social · 2d

The Tory conference has made me think of this old Dick Morris quote about being functionally out of office if poll numbers drop below 50%.

Tory position is worse. Despite having 119 MPs, they are functionally not HM opposition. And they don't have levers of government to aid recovery.

Dick Morris quote: "An elected executive... needs a popular majority every day in his term... When he dips below 50 percent he is functionally out of office".

Nick Anstead @nickanstead.bsky.social · 2d

This is simultaneously incredibly clever and incredibly nasty. Jenrick will claim his observation is actually pro-multiculturalism and against geographical segregation. But all the worst elements of our political discourse will hear the dog whistle from space.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Robert Jenrick complained of ‘not seeing another white face’ in Birmingham neighbourhood

Shadow justice secretary criticised for suggesting he could tell how integrated Handsworth was based on short visit

www.theguardian.com

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Renegade Roo @renegadekangaroo.bsky.social · 3d

I just learned about the hyrax. An animal that looks like they're just done with everyone's bullshit

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Sara Hobolt @sarahobolt.bsky.social · 3d

Great opportunity if you’re interested in pursuing a PhD in political science at @lsegovernment.bsky.social - with a particular interest in elections and campaigning ⬇️

Florian Foos @florianfoos.bsky.social · 3d

🚨 We have a cool new ESRC PhD studentship opportunity on the topic of political persuasion for someone interested in campaigning, field experiments and/or computational methods @lsegovernment.bsky.social, in collaboration with
@campaign-lab.bsky.social. All info 👇
www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse...

LSE Collaborative Studentship with Campaign Lab

www.lse.ac.uk

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Sophie E. Hill @sophieehill.bsky.social · 3d

A thread of inspirational quotes from two of my idols: Kemi Badenoch and Ange Postecoglou

(uh-oh, I may have gotten some mixed up... or have I??)

🧵

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Nick Anstead @nickanstead.bsky.social · 3d

Great work.

#sackrace

a cartoon sheep and a cat are playing a game of jumping bags .

Alt: a cartoon sheep and a cat are are having a sack race.

media.tenor.com

Reposted by Nick Anstead

Richard Stupart @richardstupart.com · 3d

Are you an early career scholar interested in some mix of media and war? We'd love to have you consider applying for Leverhulme funding to come and be part of our department.

If you think this might be you, get in touch - I'd love to see how we can support you.

www.leverhulme.ac.uk/early-career...

www.leverhulme.ac.uk

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Ben Stanley @benstanley.eu · 3d

Liz Truss must feel like Walpole right now

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Nick Anstead @nickanstead.bsky.social · 3d

Leaving aside the unfairness, this is a reminder that current HE/visa regime is unfit for purpose & too unwieldy for a world where demand can fluctuate wildly from year-to-year (eg. this year fewer students want to go to US due to Trump, so come to UK).

www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Home Office grants extra visas for UCL international students told to defer

Hundreds of students with promised places had been left in limbo after university exceeded its visa allocations

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Nick Anstead

Claes de Vreese @claesdevreese.bsky.social · 3d

The European Commission has launched a new Science, Research & Innovation account.

On 🦋 @scienceinnovation.ec.europa.eu !!

They promise:
- EU scientific news
- Horizon Europe funding opportunities
- Innovative EU-supported projects
- Events, tools & resources

Share the news 🔁

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Nick Anstead @nickanstead.bsky.social · 3d

Say what you like about the Trump project, but one of its most interesting elements is a willingness to attack the Reagan myth which had a similar hold over the GOP, especially around free trade.

Nick Anstead @nickanstead.bsky.social · 4d

Imagine it this way… you have a focus group of Reform switchers who give a clear narrative as to why their leaving, and a focus group of other switchers to LD / Greens who offer a wider variety of concerns. Which one seems to lead to the most cohesive strategy for response?

Reposted by Nick Anstead

Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 4d

Indeed, it really is ridiculous how much it needs restating that it is the cost of living and services that are central here. This is why these voters elected Labour; it’s why they’re pissed off.

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Nick Anstead @nickanstead.bsky.social · 4d

Interesting data from great 🧵 by @dylandifford.bsky.social.

My view has always been that 2029 success involves a left bloc & tactical voting.

But this data maybe holds an answer to why Lab has spent more energy on Reform switchers. The reasons they switch seem less defuse than LD/Green switchers.

Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 4d

Labour to Green switches are more ideological, being decidedly to Labour’s left and being particularly angered by govt policy on Gaza, trans rights and disability benefits.

Alongside the environment and the cost of living, poverty and inequality are high on their issue agenda.

Chart showing reasons for Labour defectors abandoning the party.

Reposted by Nick Anstead

Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 5d

Just had time to properly read this brilliant piece by @benansell.bsky.social. It left me even more convinced than I already was that what he calls Labour's (and indeed the Conservative's) "prole-whisperers" are horribly mistaken if they genuinely think chasing after Reform voters is the way to go.

British Politics' Midlife Crisis

Why British Parties Can't Make Peace with Their Actual Voters

benansell.substack.com

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Colin Smith @colinsmith.bsky.social · 7d

It’s August 1968 and DeForest Kelley is having a right go at the makers of Star Trek in the pages of America’s massive-selling TV Guide.

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Nick Anstead @nickanstead.bsky.social · 6d

With caveat that 🇺🇸 politics is v different to other parts of 🌍 this is important work. A lot of progressive politics in lots of countries was / is based on the idea that certain ideas are outside the political mainstream & will electorally hurt their advocates. This suggests that might not be true.

Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 6d

Updated paper with @adambonica.bsky.social w/ many more measures of candidate ideology

Mass politics is volatile & uncertain these days, and you should take very confident pundit/consultant claims about What Candidates Should Do™ with a big grain of salt

www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mjih7...

Reposted by Nick Anstead

Claes de Vreese @claesdevreese.bsky.social · 7d

Come work with us 🚨

We are looking for a #postdoc in our @aimediademlab.bsky.social lab.

Profile: Comm sci / poli sci/ computational social science.

Great team, timely topocs, fabulous city, good conditions.

DL 🗓️ November 1

werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...

Vacancy — Postdoctoral researcher Communication Science at AI, Media & Democracy Lab

Do you want to be part of the AI, Media & Democracy Lab? We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher with a profile in communication science.

werkenbij.uva.nl

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Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 8d

We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.

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Nick Anstead @nickanstead.bsky.social · 7d

At the risk of doing the "well even Plato was complaining about that..." post, but...

We tend to laud the politicians of the 1970s (Callaghan, Jenkins, Williams, Castle, Foot, Crossland etc). But I am just reading MacGregor Burns on Leadership (1978). Intro is called "The Crisis of Leadership".

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 7d

I think a lot of this is primarily about what many of us in the media now rewards. I chaired quite a few fringes at Labour conference, and at all of them I walked away impressed by the quality of all the MPs and their contributions.

John Oxley @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk · 7d

People talk about getting a "better" political class with little agreement on what that means. I suspect the best change would be getting more people who are seriously interested in policy and government. Surprisingly few MPs actually are.

Nick Anstead @nickanstead.bsky.social · 7d

Your regular reminder that the Midas touch did not work out well for Midas. The use of this metaphor always strikes me as weird.

'Reverse Midas touch': Starmer plan prompts collapse in support for digital IDs
Net public backing for scheme has fallen to -14% after prime minister's announcement, according to polling

Reposted by Nick Anstead

James Ball @jamesrball.com · 8d

Reform invited Lucy Connolly – who was jailed for inciting violence in a post calling for asylum hotels to be burned down – to be a main stage speaker at their party conference *just last month*.

Twlldun @twlldun.bsky.social · 8d

Harry Cole here, suggesting that because someone in Utah shot Charlie Kirk 3 weeks ago, Keir Starmer shouldn’t be nasty about Nigel Farage in the U.K.

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