The Big Tech Revolution: History of Technology in Politics

  

This article is the fourth installment of the VICI Report, a comprehensive multi-part series exploring the sophisticated use of technology in political operations. This series aims to uncover the processes, mechanisms, tools, and technologies used by Democrats to master our political processes and to develop strategies, which answer and ultimately defeat their manipulations in 2024 and beyond.

Read the previous article in this series, The Early History of Technology in Politics, which explores technology from Tammany Hall to the ‘94 Republican Revolution, or start from the beginning of our series.

The 1990s and early 2000s saw the rise of the internet as a powerful tool for political engagement, fundamentally altering how information was disseminated and how communities mobilized. This period of transformation began with the advent of Conservative digital activism, where pioneering websites and early online forums emerged as influential platforms.

These early innovations laid the groundwork for a seismic shift in political strategy, culminating in the revolutionary impact of Big Tech in the 21st century. As social media giants and advanced data analytics tools entered the fray, the political arena forever changed, marking the beginning of a new era in which technology would play a central role in shaping political outcomes.

The early days of the web saw right-wing sites such as Right Side of the Web, WorldNetDaily, and Drudge Report leading the charge in digital political engagement. These platforms, alongside Usenet newsgroups and proto-blogs on Geocities, pioneered the use of the internet for political discourse and mobilization. These laid the groundwork for a new era of online political activism by providing spaces where like-minded individuals could congregate and share information.

A notable instance of the right-wing internet’s influence was during the Monica Lewinsky scandal in the late 1990s. The Drudge Report was the first to break the story, bypassing traditional media gatekeepers and demonstrating the power of the internet in shaping public discourse. This event marked a significant shift in how political scandals were reported and consumed, highlighting the growing influence of online platforms.

Another pivotal moment facilitated by early internet activism was the “DeFoleyate” movement in the Usenet newsgroups. This grassroots campaign played an important role in the near-total overturn of Washington State’s House delegation during the 1994 elections, including the unseating of House Speaker Tom Foley. The movement exemplified the power of online coordination and communication in achieving significant political outcomes, foreshadowing the future of digital political mobilization.

The rise of tech giants like Google, Amazon, and later Facebook marked the advent of Web 2.0, a transformative period that fundamentally changed how users interacted online. Web 2.0 introduced advanced data management technologies, enabling a more interactive and user-centered internet. These developments allowed platforms to collect and analyze vast amounts of user data, significantly enhancing the ability to understand and predict user behavior.

Central to this transformation was the development of the “Social Graph” by platforms like Facebook. Utilizing advanced theoretical mathematics including Graph Theory, the Social Graph maps the relationships between users as well as the relationship of users’ preferences with each other, providing an incredibly granular understanding of individual preferences and social connections. This advancement, along with the computing and data management technology to make it feasible, known as “Big Data”, represented a significant leap from traditional user interaction models, which were largely transactional and lacked this depth of relational data.

This technological advancement revolutionized targeted advertising and interaction. By leveraging the Social Graph, platforms could deliver highly personalized content and advertisements, increasing engagement and effectiveness. The ability to predict and track user preferences would soon offer political campaigns the ability to target specific demographics with tailored messages, enhancing their mobilization of supporters and swaying undecided voters.

The advent of Web 2.0 promised to revolutionize marketing by transforming it into a relevance-based model. This new approach aimed to ensure that users would encounter advertisements and content specifically tailored to their interests and preferences. Unlike traditional broad, brand-based advertising, relevance marketing utilized advanced algorithms and data analytics derived from the Social Graph to deliver highly targeted messages to individual users.

This shift in marketing strategy was driven by the belief that relevance marketing could significantly enhance consumer satisfaction and engagement. By presenting users with content and advertisements that aligned closely with their interests, marketers hoped to create a more personalized and enjoyable online experience. This approach not only offered the likelihood of consumer interaction but also hoped to foster a deeper connection between brands and their audiences.

One of the key advantages of relevance marketing was its potential to minimize user irritation with advertisements. Traditional advertising often disrupts the user experience with irrelevant and intrusive ads. In contrast, relevance marketing aimed to present ads that users found useful and interesting, thereby reducing annoyance and increasing the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. 

This new model is made possible by the vast amounts of data collected by Web 2.0 platforms. By analyzing user behavior, preferences, and social connections, these platforms can predict and target specific interests with remarkable accuracy. The promise of relevance marketing lay in its ability to create a seamless and integrated advertising experience that felt less like a disruption and more like a natural part of the user’s online journey.

The shift to relevance marketing represents a significant evolution in how political campaigns and other organizations can approach audience engagement. By leveraging data-driven insights, campaigns could tailor their messages to resonate more effectively with different voter segments, enhancing their ability to mobilize support and influence public opinion. This approach underscored the transformative power of technology in modern political strategy, highlighting the ongoing importance of innovation in achieving and maintaining political success.

The late 2000s brought to the technology arsenal “Big Data” analytics, marking a significant evolution in both data technology and marketing capabilities. Enabled by Web 2.0 technologies, Big Data operates by collecting and analyzing vast amounts of user data, allowing for the development of sophisticated machine learning algorithms capable of processing information with remarkable accuracy. These algorithms can identify patterns, predict behaviors, and generate insights that were previously unattainable, transforming how enterprises of all types approach audience engagement.

To support the processing demands of these advanced technologies, massive investments were made in multi-billion-dollar data centers and server farms, putting the “Big” into Big Tech. These facilities provided the necessary infrastructure to store and analyze the enormous quantities of data generated by user interactions on various platforms. The scale of these investments underscored the critical importance of data in the modern digital economy and the lengths to which organizations would go to harness its potential.

This era also saw the beginnings of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, such as artificial Neural Nets, Machine Learning (ML), and Natural Language Processing (NLP), which promised even more refined analytics and automation in marketing and beyond. These AI technologies leverage the truly massive scale of data collected from users to deliver highly personalized and efficient solutions. In marketing, AI could automate the delivery of targeted advertisements, optimize campaign strategies in real-time, and provide deep insights into consumer behavior. The hype around AI reflected its perceived potential to revolutionize numerous industries by enhancing decision-making processes and improving operational efficiencies.

In the realm of political campaigns, the integration of Big Data, machine learning, and AI proved transformative by 2008. These technologies allowed the Obama 2008 campaign to famously target voters with tailored messages, optimize resource allocation, and respond dynamically to changing voter sentiments. By leveraging detailed voter data and predictive analytics, Democrat political strategists could design more effective outreach efforts and increase voter turnout among key demographics.

The detailed tracking and data collection practices employed by Big Tech companies have enabled the cataloging, analysis, monetization, and soon politicization of virtually every aspect of a user’s online life. This unprecedented level of data collection raises significant privacy concerns as users become increasingly aware of how much of their personal information is being harvested and utilized without their knowledge or consent. The sheer volume of data collected allows these companies to build comprehensive profiles that include personal behaviors, preferences, and even potential political leanings.

The commercialization of personal data has far-reaching implications beyond individual privacy. By making user data accessible to the highest bidder, Big Tech companies have transformed personal information into a highly valuable commodity. This practice has profound impacts on broader social dynamics, as it enables precise targeting in advertising and political campaigns, potentially influencing consumer behavior and electoral outcomes on a massive scale. The ability to access and exploit detailed personal profiles gives organizations unprecedented power to sway public opinion and shape societal trends.

The extensive data profiling conducted by these companies has sparked significant ethical debates. Critics argue that the invasive nature of these practices infringes on individual privacy rights and creates a surveillance-like environment where users are constantly monitored. Additionally, the potential for misuse of data raises concerns about security and our current environment of manipulation. The ethical dimensions of data collection and usage practices highlight the potential downsides of a hyper-connected digital world, where the line between personal and public information becomes increasingly blurred.

The evolution of political campaigning from early internet activism to the sophisticated use of Big Tech underscores the transformative power of technology in shaping democratic processes. The journey from grassroots online movements from the Right to advanced data-driven strategies by the Left reveals both the potential and the perils of this digital age. 

As political campaigns continue to harness the capabilities of Big Data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, it is imperative to make a constant investment into digital innovation. The future of political engagement depends on our ability to use technology not only to influence and mobilize but also to uphold the integrity and transparency of our societal and electoral processes. 

In the next installment of the VICI Report series, we describe how Big Tech changed political calculus forever and carried Democrats to the head of the game.

The VICI Report and Project VICI are projects of UpHold America, led by Paul Porter (X:@PaulPorterPVB) and Jason Belich (X:@BelichJason). 

The VICI Report series is a culmination of many months of sleepless nights; the product of exhaustive research and analysis into the technologies used in politics by a Democrat adversary excessively skilled at manipulating political outcomes. Your support is critical to the success of this mission. Please visit our website, support our GiveSendGo, or join our Substack to contribute.