Last week, Frontline launched  “Big Money 2012″ , a transmedia election project in collaboration with PBS Newshour  and  American Public Media’s Marketplace.  Andrew Golis, Frontline’s director of digital, describes the project as a  “huge multipart, multiplatform effort to investigate and explain the way raising and spending money to influence elections is changing in this election cycle.”

One of the project’s features includes “Targeting the Electorate” an online interactive tool that allows users to see how political campaigns are using digital media to target them. After answering a series of questions, users can watch a short documentary  based on their answers.

I took the entire interactive a few days ago, and learned some pretty interesting facts. Here’s a breakdown of my results ( not including my political affiliation) combined with a little  background research of my own.

Question: Do you use social networks?

My Answer: Regularly

This election is truly the first social media election, with both candidates taking advantage of platforms such as Reddit and Twitter to reach voters. PBS Newshour’s Hari Sreenivasan talked to Ashley Bryant, the Ohio State Digital Director for the Obama campaign, to find out how social media plays a pivotal role in targeting potential voters.

Bryant says digital platforms have evolved since 2008.  Now, not only  can the Obama campaign target perspective voters, but  digital users can also  target friends and family that need a “specific type of messaging”.

Long story short: when you engage in political activity on Facebook, whether you’re using the campaign Facebook page to visit a website or watch a video, you’re not just a user. The campaign is also using you as a possible remote digital recruiter.

“We’re targeting some of your Facebook friends that we feel are the most persuadable,” says Bryant.  They’re going to be the first ones that pop up for you to share a message to or send something to through some of the apps that we’re working with.”

By now, you’re most likely familiar with Facebook applications asking for permission to post on your timeline and broadcast your activity. The Facebook page for the Obama campaign app works the same way.  Visit the Obama 2012 App Center,  and you’ll have the options to “Visit Site” or “Send to Mobile”.  Click on either button, and a screen pops up asking for permission to post future activity:

Note the tagline telling you why you should accept:

“From Obama 2012: Accept these permissions so we can show you Facebook friends to share this content with – help us spread the word and win this thing!”

Just like Bryant said, the Obama campaign wants you to help spread the message.

Of course, using Facebook users as potential recruiters isn’t exclusive to the Obama campaign. You can use the “Commit to Mitt”  app to share your campaign support on Facebook:

The Facebook page for the “Stand with Mitt” app also has an option for users to invite their friends to “like” the page and message them on behalf of the campaign.

Question: What is your primary home phone?

My Answer: Cell Phone

In this video, Sreenivasan interviewed Zac Moffat, Digital Director of the Romney campaign.  According to Moffat, “off the grid” people like myself are those who live life “on demand”.  People who fall into this category are those who  frequently watch Hulu, no longer watch live TV,  and live off smartphones.

Moffat says the Romney campaign is really looking to target the kinds of people who don’t have landlines, particularly in states like Ohio. The goal: make sure  people are still getting campaign messages, even if they’re not receiving campaign calls on a landline.

“We make sure our advertising takes that into consideration and provides them with a product we feel they’d be most receptive to hearing.”

Question: Do you allow web cookies? 

My Answer:  Yes 

John Aristotle Phillips, CEO of voter data firm Aristotle, says  web cookies travel with  internet users, even when they visit  non-political  sites.

“You’ll notice if you go to any political websites of the parties, that even after you leave the website, you’ll be targeted with political ads that have an eerie  resemblance to the website you visited, in terms of your political interests. And that’s not an accident.”

Question: How do you watch TV?

My Answer: Mostly DVR and Web 

In this video,  technology strategist Andrew Rasiej compared 20th century political ad campaigns to the ads running today.

“In the 20th century if there was a political  ad running in the same household, the husband and wife would see the same ad,” says Rasiej.

Today, thanks to digital media, political campaigns can target ads to different people who live in the same house. To explain the strategy, Rasiej gave an example of two undecided voters living in the same household: a husband leaning towards voting for Romney and his wife  learning towards Obama.

“When they both go online at the same time, even when they’re both using the same wi-fi connection in their house for their two iPads, they both will see completely different ads, even if they’re reading the same website.  [That’s] Because the candidates and the campaigns and the parties have figured out what the chances are that they’re talking to you based on your interests  and targeting that  message just to you.”

Question: How old are you?

My Answer: 25- 34

Sasha Issenberg , journalist and author of  The Victory Lab, explained how political campaigns use the data from voter registration cards. Using your address, campaigns can make guesses about demographics based on where you live. These demographics then allow campaigns to make further guesses about your socioeconomic status, your education level,  and race and ethnicity. 

“What’s changed particularly in the last decade is that all this information about individual voters  that exists in the commercial world now can be integrated with the information that exists in the political world,” says Issenberg.

Question: What is your gender?

My Answer: Female

Andrew Rasiej gave an example of how big data might work for an individual voter: a female Democrat who publicly posts on Facebook that she likes seventh generation environmental products.

“Instead of sending a message from Barack Obama saying ‘Please donate to my campaign,’ they might create  a message from Michelle Obama saying ‘Hey, my husband has the most progressive environmental record of any president in history, and we’d really like to get your feedback. Would you join our campaign, donate, and help us spread the message?’ That might resonate with her more than if they just sent a letter to her from Barack Obama attacking Mitt Romney for being a guy who says he creates jobs, but doesn’t.”

The interactive also asked me to choose my state. I live in Georgia, which is not a swing state.

Daniel Kreiss, an assistant professor at  University of North Carolina, explained how campaigns have used new media over the last decade to engage voters who don’t live in swing states.

Candidates traditionally have vast field campaigns that target voters in swing states. The campaigns tend to  recruit  volunteers to  reach out to people in those states by making phone calls and going door to door.  In the past, people who wanted to participate in the mass field campaigns in a  swing state without actually living in one may not have had a way  to get involved.

“One of the things that online calling tools that enable volunteers in states such as California to call into swing states like Nevada do is broaden the potential pool of voters,” says Kreiss.

An August article from Pro Publica shed some light on the candidates’ use of online calling tools  that “give anyone who registers for their websites the names and phone numbers of voters to contact”.  Romney supporters can use  “Operation Swing State”  to register for the phone bank and call voters in the swing states. On Barack Obama’s official campaign website, there is a page where voters can find information on calling swing states, including a link to a voter’s local phone bank. Voters can also log into the website for access to the online call tool.

Once again, I have to thank  PBS  for being my lifelong classroom. If you’ve done the interactive, share your results!

-The Vibrant VJ