No, it’s not Cambridge Analytica. It’s you.
A short while ago an article called “The Data That Turned the World Upside Down” started to spread on liberal social media like virus.
This article, originally published in the German Das Magazin proclaimed that Donald Trump’s victory — and Brexit — were the makings of a small British data science company called Cambridge Analytica.
The story goes that data scientists had used their magic to trick first the Brits, then the Americans, to vote wrong. The populists had used unfair methods like microtargeted Facebook ads and social media profiling.
“We have profiled the personality of every adult in the United States of America — 220 million people,” claimed the CEO of Cambridge Analytica.
No, you have not. You are just marketers. Half of the Americans are not on Facebook. Most have private profiles. And Cambridge Analytica’s OCEAN model (an acronym for openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, neuroticism) is as inaccurate as all the personality tests that have circulated for decades.
No secret recipe there.
Why did this article about evil science behind elections-gone-horribly-wrong spread so efficiently?
So, why did this article about evil science behind elections-gone-horribly-wrong spread so efficiently? Well, the truth is…it’s always easier to blame others for failures that are actually of one’s own making.
Brexit or Trump had little to do with “fake news” or the workings of Cambridge Analytica.
The real reason for the victory march of populism is that the traditional politicians and political parties have been dozing, blissfully ignorant of the social media revolution. They have been trusting of people’s “common sense” and the support of traditional media, while the populists have had no other choice but to get to grips with the internet and social media — and fast.
It’s time to look into the mirror, politicians. The elections are now won or lost on social media, and every party and politician needs to learn the new rules. Fast.
Yet the dawning of this new era doesn’t mean that politicians need to turn to the dark side. Good-hearted politicians (yes, you know who you are) can still stay honest and kind, but they need to learn to shoot with the weapons available to them — the social web, and data — and most importantly they need to connect with the people they want to win over. “Be real and win hearts” should become their modus operandi.
So if you think evil is triumphing and you are a politician, get active on Facebook, start measuring your impact on your audience, and how well you engage with those who make up your audience, and discover just how exciting the social web can be.
Once you’ve done that, you’ll realize it’s actually fun, cheap and rewarding.
No need to feel helpless.
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