Field Guide to Online Political Conversations: For Elected Representatives

September 18, 2019

Field Guide to Online Political Conversations

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Field Guide to Online Political Conversations: For Elected Representatives

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Research Director Beatrice Wayne shares solutions from SAMbot Alberta to combat online abuse, fake engagement, and inauthentic activity.

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The Samara Centre for Democracy is frequently asked to provide commentary and analysis on a range of topics related to civic engagement and political participation. We regularly appear in print, broadcast and digital news networks across the country.

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SAMbot has received national media coverage and been presented at meetings across governmental, policy, technology, human rights and academic spaces.

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Humans of the House dominates the podcast charts - this time on Goodpods.

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The Pointer interviewed Research Director Beatrice Wayne on the importance of strengthening communication between candidates and voters.

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In the 2023 Alberta election, we observed a significant amount of what may be inauthentic or fake, artificially generated engagement on Twitter. This included a very small number of users producing a disproportionate amount of abuse and a high number of potential bot accounts.

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The Samara Centre for Democracy monitored activity on Twitter¹ during the 2023 Alberta election as part of our SAMbot project, a multi-year machine learning initiative that measures abusive content received by Canadian political candidates on social media.

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Ten years ago, Alison Loat and Michael MacMillan published Tragedy in the Commons.

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Nous connaissons les politiciens et politiciennes tels qu’ils se présentent à nous dans l’exercice de leurs fonctions. Mais ce n’est que lorsque leur mandat touche à sa fin qu’ils et elles peuvent réellement s’exprimer sur leur expérience. Animé par Chloë Hill, Les Personnages de la Chambre est un nouveau balado qui présente six anciens et anciennes député.e.s de la Chambre des communes du Canada qui décrivent, dans leur propre voix, la réalité de cette profession.

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In Humans of the House, we are on a journey that explores the human side of politics. Prepare to be surprised, maybe even moved, by the real lives of Members of Parliament.

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