Hadron Strategies President, Tyler Brown, spoke recently to the Boston Globe about social media content strategies in the lead up to the 2024 Presidential election. Specifically, he discussed the evolving response campaigns have had to actions taken by social media companies - most notably Facebook - to strip back targeting tools for political advertising.

Faced with these changes, and the emergence of TikTok recommendation algorithm, more platforms are emphasizing recommended content based on engagement. In response, campaigns are adjusting their strategy to focus on organic content that generates the strongest emotional response.

Another key change is shaping the kind of content candidates are posting. In 2016, the Cambridge Analytica scandal revealed the extent to which users’ private data was being exploited for microtargeting of political ads, prompting significant public backlash. The removal of some Facebook targeting tools has encouraged producers of political content to make ads and other videos that they hope will go viral and get boosted by the sites’ algorithms, said Tyler Brown, a GOP media consultant.

“There’s an incentive to have your content recommended to users, and so it encourages more outlandish and humorous content, heavily influenced by memes,” said Brown.

The entire article can be read on the Boston Globe’s ($) website.