Just in case anyone was doubting Facebook's targeted marketing that we've learned about in class and have heard tons about in the media, I can tell you that it's true! Joanne Babcock views much different ads than I do on Facebook. Anti-Obama, pro-life, Tea Party recruitment -- you name it, anything that Joanne has "liked" or listed as a hobby, activity, or interest, is generating specific advertisements to appear on the right hand side of her homepage. So this is in fact another way that political activists use social media - advertising! It is also another example of how political activists are affected by social networking websites, such as Facebook. The marketing and advertising techniques that Facebook is able to employ allows for organizations to inexpensively place advertisements online and also specifically target the ad to whomever they chose. You can target people's location, interest, age, and even chose to target individuals on their birthdays!
Therefore, political and social activists are using many of the same tactics that companies (big and small) and organizations are using the Internet, in terms of the ways in which they get their names out there.
Here is a snapshot of what it looks like to create a Facebook ad:
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