Candidates and advocacy groups are inundating voters’ phones with political text messages. Tell us about your experiences.
In the lead-up to the midterm elections, campaigns are inundating millions of people with political text messages. It’s easy to see why.
Text messages are much cheaper for political campaigns than TV ads or online ads. Software enables campaigns to quickly create and send bulk messages directly to voters’ phones. Another bonus: Many people who ignore campaign emails actually open and read phone messages.
New rules put in place this year by mobile phone carriers were supposed to reduce the flood of unsolicited political text messages. But many people find they are being bombarded more and more with campaign messages they never signed up for.
If you are being spammed with political robotexts, I’d like to hear from you.
I’m a technology reporter at The New York Times who investigates the societal impacts, and unexpected consequences, of tech trends like campaign texting. The potential benefits for voters seem clear: Political text messages can provide useful information.
But the drawbacks this election cycle go beyond voter annoyance and frustration. Political text messages are increasingly a vector for stoking political polarization and spreading disinformation.
We’d like to hear about your experiences and see some of the messages you’ve received.
We may use your contact information to follow up with you. If we publish your submission, we will not include your name without first contacting you and obtaining your permission.
Tell us about your political text messages.
Source: Elections - nytimes.com
