02/13/2020

The Acceptability of Political Ads on Social Media

Some like it; others don't

Twitter has (mostly) banned them. Facebook has faced controversy because it hasn’t.

But despite the chatter around whether political ads are appropriate on social media because of the potential for misinformation, many people still consider the channel appropriate for political groups. According to a new survey from the Public Affairs Council (PAC), which collaborated with Morning Consult on a poll of 2,200 Americans, 44 percent of respondents felt it was OK for political advertising to be shared in the social sphere. The levels went up and down by generation, with 56 percent of Gen Z respondents saying it was acceptable, while only 34 percent of boomers felt the same way.

One factor that could affect how people feel about such ads is the topic—with education, healthcare, and the economy seen as acceptable by nearly half of respondents. Nonetheless, there was a general feeling of distrust for paid political ads, which were far less trusted (19 percent) than social posts shared by friends and family (53 percent) and news outlets (34 percent).

Please select this link to read the complete article from Associations Now.